Local Farm Questions Validity of State of Utah Lab Results
Hello farm friends!
For those who are milk customers, this update is for you. There has been a lot going on with our cow dairy over the past couple of months, as well as media reports from the Utah Department of Ag & Food, and the county and state Health Departments. Below are the facts of our experience.
Many have asked what they can do to help. We are brainstorming. Right now we want to begin collecting stories about how this license suspension and lack of raw milk is affecting your health & the health of your family. Please send an email with your story & thoughts.
(ETA: Another option of how you can take action is to contact your representatives. Our representative will be presenting new raw milk legislation during the upcoming session. We are asking that you contact your representatives NOW and begin a conversation with them about raw milk & food freedom, and how important it is to you. Then in January, when the bill is presented, you can continue that conversation with them and ask them to support the bill. If you are not sure who your reps are, this link will help: Utah State Legislative District Maps )
Many have also asked who to contact. Information for leadership in the various departments is also listed below.
Local Farm Questions Validity of State of Utah Lab Results:
West Jordan, Utah ᠆᠆ Utah Natural Meat & Milk, a small farm located in West Jordan Utah, has lost more than 12 percent of its annual revenue due to poor customer service provided by the State of Utah employees from August 2023 to October 2023.
The State of Utah Agencies, as well as the Salt Lake County Health Department, have identified Utah Natural Meat & Milk as a potential source of an alleged organism, campylobacter. The most common infections linked to campylobacter, according to the CDC, are likely acquired by eating raw or undercooked poultry, other foods like seafood, or by drinking untreated water.
“Campylobacter is a fragile organism and is notoriously difficult to culture from milk; documented outbreaks in which human cases of Campylobacter infection have been linked by genotype to raw milk are rare.” (April 2014, CDC)
After three lab tests failed to detect the suspected organism, agencies from the State of Utah continued to request milk samples to detect Campylobacter. One milk sample was shipped overnight to an out-of-state lab in Washington and cleared of all risk.
Utah Natural Meat & Milk provided the State of Utah with customer records, twice in the last six-weeks, as required by state law. The farm received no information from the State of Utah regarding how the consumer-records were used. The owners also keep business records of each routine visit by an outside source.
“Our farm’s goal is to provide our consumers with a healthy food supply close to home. We follow state guidelines and licensing, and keep our customers informed”, said Kristen Bowler, farmer and co-owner of Utah Natural Meat & Milk. “Even after all that, the customer-service process we have experienced recently is like being on trial for milk."
The State of Utah reports they have failed to find milk purchased by a Utah Natural Meat & Milk consumer that tests positive for the alleged organism.
No additional resources have been offered by the State of Utah or Salt Lake County to assist the West Jordan farm in the identification and resolution of the potential problem. Bowler reports consumers continue to call daily to check if their dairy license has been reinstated.
Timeline:
Farm was notified early August of a consumer report to the Dept. of Health of illness;
Utah Natural Meat & Milk was required to provide to the state a list of consumers that had bought local milk in July of 2023.
UDAF visited the dairy location to take milk sample. Results found the sample clear of all contamination.
Farm was served a cease and desist by Dept. of Agriculture and Food, five days following a clean sample; State of Utah told farm business the state did not have the equipment needed to test the sample for a potential risk.
The Utah Dept of Agriculture and Food notified farm business that a milk sample would have to be shipped overnight to the Washington State lab.
No results were provided for one week post-sample to farm owners; multiple attempts were made by the urban farm to obtain results.
A milk sample from the local dairy farm sent to Washington State was cleared of all potential risk; the suspicion of a risky product resulted in a loss of 12 percent of business revenue in August 2023.
Utah Natural Meat & Milk was authorized to sell milk by the state of Utah for five weeks; routine testing was performed on September 18, 2023; no results were shared with farm business from the state, positive or negative regarding the milk.
Late September, Dept. of Agriculture and Food notified Utah Natural Meat & Milk of a dairy-license suspension.
Written reports from Utah Dept of Agriculture and Food to Utah Natural Meat & Milk stated they have been unsuccessful in obtaining our local milk from a Utah consumer to test for contamination.
Dept. of Ag requested Utah Natural Meat & Milk customer records that have purchased milk from our farm from late August to early September.
State of Utah conducted lab tests of farm’s milk, collected by Utah Dept. of Ag, and sent to two different state labs, and both samples came back clean of suspected contamination.
Utah Natural Meat & Milk was not authorized to sell milk after clean tests. The State of Utah reported human-error in sampling and requested additional testing.
The State of Utah visited the dairy farm on October 10 for a fourth test. Utah Natural Meat & Milk received notice of potential risk on October 19.
On October 13, Utah Natural Meat & Milk requested a hearing with the Utah Dept of Agriculture regarding the notice of permit suspension. This request was sent by fascimile to Melissa Ure at the number listed on the permit suspension. Farm has confirmation the fax was successfully delivered at 3:28pm that day. No response was received from the department.
On October 25, Utah Natural Meat & Milk requested from the Utah Dept. of Ag and the Utah Dept. of Health and Human Services, both a full analysis & the conditions of the testing completed by the departments. At the time of this writing on November 1, none of that information has been provided to the local dairy farm. **ETA: Brandon Forsythe, state lab director, replied on November 2 that for the farm to obtain the information they must submit a GRAMA request.
No additional resources or assistance have been offered to Utah Natural Meat & Milk by the State of Utah or Salt Lake County Health Department.
Dept. of Ag states the dairy must have three consecutive “clean” tests to reinstate their license and sell cow milk again.
Updated information as of November 27, 2023
Department of Ag held a phone conference with Utah Natural Meat & Milk on November 6. Dept. offered assistance to get the full analysis of the lab testing on the milk samples so a GRAMA request would not need to be submitted. No further follow up or information has been provided to the dairy farm. During this discussion, Department of Ag offered to take milk samples from the dairy three consecutive days when farm was ready to begin testing, so testing would be completed simultaneously to expedite results. Commissioner Buttars also requested the farm remove the timeline and information on their website due to the number of emails they were receiving, which farm owners declined to do.
Department of Agriculture and Food began testing protocol at Utah Natural Meat & Milk on November 13. The first sample was taken from the dairy on November 14. A negative test result was reported to the farm on November 16. Documentation of this test result was requested by the farm and obtained November 29.
Department of Ag took a second sample on November 20. A negative test result was reported to the farm on November 22. Documentation of this test result was requested by the farm and obtained November 29.
Department of Ag returned for the third sample on November 22. A negative result was reported to the farm on November 24 and Utah Natural Meat & Milk’s license was reinstated. Documentation of this test result was requested by the farm and obtained November 29.
Utah Natural Meat & Milk began selling local milk to customers on November 25. The farm’s dairy herd has been reduced to a third of the cows resulting in a 66% loss of income going forward.
Updated information as of November 28, 2023
Department of Agriculture & Food issued a press release regarding the reinstatement of Utah Natural Meat & Milk’s dairy license. The press release included the following statements:
“We are grateful for the efforts by the UDAF team as well as the dairy owners to isolate the cause of the illnesses and to ensure the milk is safe to be sold once again.”
“The dairy owners took appropriate actions and worked with UDAF inspectors to make improvements and ultimately get the three clean tests required.”
Information from CDC about Campylobacter.
“Most Campylobacter infections are probably acquired by eating raw or undercooked poultry or eating something that touched it. Campylobacter are also transmitted by other foods, including seafood, meat, and produce; by contact with animals; and by drinking untreated water.”
“Campylobacter is a fragile organism and is notoriously difficult to culture from milk; documented outbreaks in which human cases of Campylobacter infection have been linked by PFGE (genotype) to raw milk are rare.” - (April 1, 2016 - Camplylobacter jejuni Infections Associated with Raw Milk Consumption - Utah 2014)
Information regarding Utah Natural Meat & Milk
Utah Natural Meat & Milk is a small farm located in West Jordan, Utah by Shayn & Kristen Bowler. The Bowler family has farmed in the community since the 1970s. In 2009, the farm began selling their farmstead meat to the community.
Utah Natural Meat & Milk follows the state of Utah policy that requires local consumer education regarding local milk. All of the farm's local consumers have agreed, via signature, to care for their product accordingly.
The farm sells on average 1,000 gallons of milk per week to the community to Salt Lake County consumers; in this year alone over 35,000 gallons of milk were sold to the community.
The farm store supports 10 other local food businesses that offer additional local food items.
The urban farm is open to the community three days each week (Tuesday & Thursday afternoons & Saturday), which also includes the opportunity to meet-and-greet farm animals and speak directly with the farmers.
Contact Information for leaderhip at regulatory departments
Utah Department of Agriculture & Food
Salt Lake County Health Department
Nicholas Rupp - nrupp@slco.org
His information is listed on the October 11 Press Release. No other contact information for County Health Department Leadership can be found.