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Office of the

Secretary ................... (785) 296-3556

Dairy Inspection

Program..................... (785) 296-3511

Kansas Department of Agriculture

Kansas Department of Health and

Environment

Food Protection and Consumer

Safety Program ......... (785) 296-5600

Visit KDHE on the web:

www.kdheks.gov/fpcs/index.html

109 SW 9th Street

Topeka, KS 66612

Visit us on the web: www.ksda.gov

unpasteurized milk or milk

products.

especially raw milk cheeses, from

sources such as flea markets,

door-to-door operations, out of

trucks, or shipped from Mexico,

Nicaragua, or Honduras.

cheeses.

the Mexican-style cheese called queso fresco) if you are pregnant.

milk products.

Some consumers believe that raw,

unpasteurized milk is healthier than

pasteurized milk.

This is false. The essential nutrients

remain even after the pasteurization

process.

It is important to drink pasteurized

milk because it is heated to a high

enough temperature to be able to

destroy any disease-causing bacteria

that may be present in raw milk.

The Food and Drug Administration

requires that milk be pasteurized.

Because of this, food-borne illnesses

related to consuming raw milk have

decreased.

Kansas law allows raw milk to be sold

in certain circumstances:

products can be sold only by the

milk producer directly to the

consumer, and it must be

clearly labeled that the milk is

not pasteurized and is raw and

ungraded.

Kansas must be pasteurized.

Any dairy cow or herd can carry

illness-causing bacteria even if they

have never tested positive for it.

The Food and Drug Administration

and the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention have documented

many illnesses associated with

consuming raw milk. They have

stated that the risk of becoming ill

from consuming raw milk far

outweigh any benefits.

Raw milk and raw milk products are

unpasteurized. They have been linked

to Salmonella, Campylobacter,

E. coli,

diseases that can cause serious illness

or even death.

Most people recover completely from

food-borne illnesses. However,

sometimes the harmful bacteria can

cause serious or long-term illness. For

example, kidney failure, arthritis, and

disease that affects the nervous system

have been linked to food-borne illnesses.

Food-borne bacteria also have been

known to cause serious injury or death

to unborn babies of mothers who have

been exposed to it.

Certain groups of people have a greater

risk of becoming infected with illnesscausing

bacteria, including young

children, pregnant women, the elderly,

and those with weak immune systems.

These food-borne illnesses may cause

symptoms in as little as one day up to

weeks after consuming the raw milk

product. The most common symptoms

are diarrhea, stomach cramps,

abdominal pain, nausea, fever, and

chills.

If you have any of these symptoms

after consuming raw milk or raw milk

products, immediately contact your

healthcare provider.

If you don. t properly care for yourself

during a food-borne illness or if you

have a greater risk of becoming

infected with illness-causing

bacteria, it could cause serious

complications or death.