Florida health officials are warning about the risk of consuming raw milk after more than 20 people, some whom are children, were left sick with E. coli and campylobacter bacteria-related illness amid a growing health trend.
State health officials linked the campylobacter and shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections, also known as STEC infections, to an unnamed farm, citing sanitation practices as a particular concern, according to a Monday announcement by the Florida Department of Health.
The department warns that STEC bacteria can result in kidney failure and a breakdown in red blood cells, known as hemolysis.
There have been 21 cases, including six children under the age of 10, and seven hospitalizations linked to consuming raw milk, or milk that has not gone through the pasteurization process to kill off harmful bacteria, produced at the farm.
Popular medical content creator Dr. Zachary E. Rubin, a pediatrician certified in allergy and immunology, shared a TikTok video in which he explained the Florida outbreak is a “result of the lies that have been spread across the internet, social media, by some celebrities and influencers talking about the potential benefits of raw milk that are not better than it being pasteurized.”
The outbreak comes amid a trend in recent years of wellness and fitness influencers promoting raw milk consumption. A quick search for “raw milk” on TikTok and Instagram shows these influencers making claims that the product reduces gut inflammation or contains more nutrients than pasteurized milk.
In Florida, raw milk can only be sold for non-human consumption, such as for animal food, and must be labeled as such, according to the health department announcement.
While the health department did acknowledge raw milk contains “disease-causing bacteria” that can cause “gastrointestinal illness, including diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps,” it added that “many people consume raw milk safely.”
“Consumers have reported benefits of raw milk consumption, including better taste and protective effects for asthma and allergies,” the department’s press release read.
“This is disinformation,” Rubin said, addressing the reported benefits in his video. “This is likely written by a wellness influencer or someone that is influenced by a wellness influencer trying to promote raw milk.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also disputed the wellness and fitness influencers’ claims, stating that “pasteurized milk offers the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.”
However the state’s health department wrote in its release that “Floridians are encouraged to use this information to make informed decisions about their health and sources of raw milk should they choose to consume it.”
Among those promoting raw milk consumption is health conspiracy theorist and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who last year argued the Food and Drug Administration had an “aggressive suppression” on “psychedelics” and “raw milk.”
In April, Kennedy’s FDA suspended a quality control program for testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to job cuts.