Dungeness Valley Creamery's raw milk recall continues

SEQUIM — Raw milk from Dungeness Valley Creamery has been off store shelves for more than a week following monthly routine state test sampling that found Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in one sample of milk product.

The dairy's raw milk is sold in stores across the North Olympic Peninsula and beyond. With the recall in place, the Creamery's raw milk is not available in 50 retail stores across Western Washington.

Staff with the state Department of Agriculture report the E. coli was found in retail raw whole milk dated with an April 6 expiration. Some types of E. coli do not cause illness; the type that produces Shiga toxin does.

Ryan McCarthey, Creamery co-owner with his wife Sarah, said he voluntarily recalled whole milk, skim milk and cream dated with an expiration between April 6-20. He said the staff learned of the E. coli sample on April 8 and began pulling product the next morning.

"We originally hoped to be back in stores by Saturday [April 13] or Tuesday at the latest," he said Monday.

McCarthey said he has made repeated calls to the Department of Agriculture with hopes for an "all clear" update after the latest sample.

Since the test, McCarthey said the creamery has dumped more than 1,000 gallons of unused milk but continues to store new milk every day.

"We have product available immediately," he said. "We have at least 600 gallons ready to go at any time."

Some Creamery staffers have helped with cleaning and doing odd jobs during the recall, McCarthey said, and he plans to sell some non-milk producing heifers, and butcher a few cows to help make up for some of the lost revenues.

McCarthey said it's unclear how long the testing could take before milk sales can start again.

"So far the answer we have been given involves the testing methods and incubation periods to give this type of bacteria an opportunity to grow can take time," Ryan and Sarah McCarthey wrote on Facebook.

Despite the April 6 expiration batch not coming into contact with later productions, the McCartheys wrote its industry standard to "recall subsequent batches of product until the point we were notified. We then conduct remediation cleaning and examine potential sources of contamination."

Quarterly inspections were moved up for the farm to April 8 by the state, and the Creamery's barn came back positive with a 100 percent for the bottling plant and 99 percent for the barn with a point taken off for some wear in concrete outside the barn, McCarthey said.

Testing

The state reported that no illnesses have been found related to the recalled product.

State officials said E. coli infections can cause severe diarrhea, stomach cramps and/or bloody stools, and that symptoms generally appear three-four days after exposure and up to nine days to appear.

In some cases, infection causes hemolytic uremic syndrome where red blood cells are destroyed resulting in kidney failure. Those with these symptoms should contact a health care provider, state officials said.

Due to state regulations, the Creamery must put warnings on each product that it's not pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria. Health officials also caution infants, younger children, senior citizens, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems from consuming raw milk.

Last September, Department of Health officials claimed product infected with E. coli from the Creamery made a 2-year-old child and a 72-year-old female ill last August.

Test samples were soon thereafter found with no traces of E. coli though and both customers recovered, health officials said.

The Creamery was allowed to operate and sell product despite the state's warning last year.

McCarthey said the he has used both instances to revisit cleaning protocols. This is the first recall of product since 2013 when E. coli was found in cream and recalled before it was eaten.

McCarthey said this led to a new process for how the dairy handles cream.

McCarthey said one supplier with two stores in Bellingham opted not to sell the dairy's product any more after the recall, but Creamery staff plan to establish another drop-off place and alternatives for customers.

Customers have come out in droves though, McCarthey said, by sending emails and calls of encouragement, and purchasing any product they can, such as eggs, ice cream and butter.

"We find a lot of customers come out to support us after something like this and new ones find out about us after something like this, too," he said.

One supporter, Patti Bostwick, created a GoFundMe online fundraiser for the Creamery, too, at www.gofundme.com/life-on-a-raw-milk-dairy. The site, which raised more than $4,000 in four days, says that the diary has lost some $10,000 to $15,000 in revenue.

McCarthey said the dairy will "pay it forward" by "using these donated funds in ways that can aid us to make up some of the lost sales in the future while still providing a service or benefit to the community we're a part of."

"We can hardly express the depth of our gratitude for all the support we have received," the McCartheys wrote.

(Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.)