NBC NEWS – A woman has sued a Florida dairy farm state officials linked to an outbreak of infections from consuming raw milk, claiming she lost her unborn child while she was caring for her toddler who got sick from the milk.
Rachel Maddox claimed that she didn’t know about the risks involved with raw milk and that her child became seriously sick after having consumed the product, according to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Seminole County.
Now she’s suing Keely Farms Dairy, a farm in New Smyrna Beach, which the state Health Department said this month was linked to at least 21 cases of campylobacter and shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections since January.
Those cases included six children under age 10 and seven hospitalizations.
State health officials warned at the time about the potential risks of drinking raw milk — milk that is not pasteurized, meaning it has not gone through a heat-treating process that destroys bacteria.
At the time, the state Health Department said it was working with the farm to ensure “effective sanitation practices are implemented consistently across every batch.”
In the suit, Maddox claimed she purchased Keely Farms Dairy raw milk at Wild Hare Natural Market in June when she was nearly 20 weeks pregnant.
Keely Farms Dairy, Wild Hare Natural Market and attorneys for Maddox did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
She purchased the milk for her husband, who grew up in Eastern Europe and had expressed “an appreciation for farm fresh milk,” the complaint said.
“Unaware of any potential dangers, she purchased it,” the complaint said.
The milk did have a label — in accordance with Florida law — that said it was for animal, not human, consumption.
She inquired about the label but was told it was “a technical requirement to sell ‘farm milk’” and she did not question it further …
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