Salmonella found in raw milk from Granger’s Pride and Joy dairy; no illnesses reported
GRANGER, Wash. – The state Department of Agriculture is advising consumers not to drink raw milk from Pride and Joy Dairy in Granger after a sample of the milk tested positive for salmonella.
The sample was taken on Sept. 18 from bottled organic retail raw milk at Pride and Joy’s Toppenish facility, with a best-by date of Oct. 4, the WSDA reports. The department was conducting routine testing as part of its regulatory oversight of all raw milk operations in the state. The test results came back Wednesday.
No illness connected to the milk has been reported.
“It was just one sample; the pull date was Oct. 4, which, that milk is pretty much all sold and gone,” said Cheryl Voortman, owner of Pride and Joy.
She said the state asked them to do a voluntary recall on the raw milk products with that date.
However, WSDA spokesman Hector Castro said Thursday that Pride and Joy notified the department through an attorney that it would not be issuing a recall, which led the department to send out its own notice about the salmonella.
“I think with situations like this, our agency has a duty to notify the public when there’s a known health risk, as is the case here, so that’s why we’re sharing the notice today,” Castro said.
The attorney’s email to WSDA “pointed out that nearly all the milk the dairy produced on Sept. 13-14 has already been consumed and there has not been a single complaint made to either WSDA or the dairy,” and that symptoms of salmonella infection generally occur within 12 to 72 hours of consuming contaminated products.
A statement on the dairy’s website elaborates on its reasoning.
Voortman said Pride and Joy is “always, constantly taking measures” to ensure safety of its products, but said she could not disclose any of the measures they are taking now to address this latest concern.
The positive salmonella test comes roughly eight months after state inspectors found E. coli in raw milk sold by Pride and Joy. The dairy recalled products sold in early February and suspended raw milk production and retail sales for about two months while the state conducted more in-depth testing.
The state gave the all-clear to resume production in early April after follow-up tests came back clean.
Pride and Joy has locations in Toppenish and Granger and sells raw milk throughout Washington state, including Rosauers Supermarkets in Yakima and Mill Creek Natural Foods in Union Gap.