CHAMBERSBURG– The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture warns consumers to immediately discard The Family Cow brand raw milk and raw-milk cheddar cheese, sold from the farm’s Chambersburg retail store and online for pick-up at more than 50 locations across Pennsylvania. All production and sell-by dates, all milk and all varieties of cheese from the dairy should be discarded.
Two days earlier the same agriculture department warned consumers not to drink raw milk from Byers Organic Dairy in Mercersburg after routine testing confirmed contamination with Shigatoxin-producing E. coli.The affected milk was sold between July 8 and July 10 with sell-by dates of July 22 and July 23 at Byers Organic Dairy, 10139 Church Hill Road. No illnesses had been reported.
In the new case, product samples tested in July were confirmed to be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, following a recent spike in reported salmonella infections that included those who ate and drank the dairy’s unpasteurized milk products.
Operators of The Family Cow said today they are now allowed to sell the raw cow milk as pet food but won’t offer raw milk for human consumption until state health officials receive a clear sample, something that may take 10-14 days.
They added, “Don’t worry—this is not a government raid. They are not shutting down our farm. This is normal life for raw milk dairies. Because of the seeming bias against raw milk, this is to be expected occasionally… We’ve been through this before.”
The recall does NOT affect any of these products:
*Pet food raw dairy (raw butter, cream, etc.)
*Other raw cow milk cheeses
*Raw goat milk
*Raw goat milk cheeses.
“As far as we know, there have been no positive test results from our bottled milk, but we did have a positive salmonella test result from our bulk tank sampled on Monday, 7/8…. All of our in-house lab tests have been clean.
“Even though we and our team are not personally afraid of the milk, and we will continue drinking it like normal, we do need to halt raw milk sales. We are also required to advise you not to drink any milk currently on hand.”
Farm operators said any consumers who discard milk products and would like a refund, can contact the farm for a full reimbursement. They also noted that a recent negative sample leads them to believe the test in question was a “non-typical outlier.”
Public health and food safety experts at the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Agriculture have been investigating to pinpoint the sources of more than 70 reported salmonella infections since August 2024. A substantial number of those reporting illnesses had consumed the dairy’s products before they became ill.
Raw milk sold in plastic pint, half gallon, and gallon containers as well as a variety of cheese products were sold at the farm’s store at 3854 Olde Scotland Road in Chambersburg and at additional retail locations that could not be confirmed by the business. Product were also sold to online customers at yourfamilyfarmer.com for pick-up at locations statewide.
The dairy’s raw-milk cheese is sold in various sizes in both blocks and shredded. Varieties include cheddar, yellow cheddar, Colby, garlic and chives cheddar, applewood smoked cheddar, unsalted cheddar, raw pepper jack cheese, baby Swiss, yogurt cheese, and Fromage Affiné (aged cheddar). Varieties of shredded cheese include pizza cheese, white cheddar, yellow cheddar, and white and yellow cheddar mix.
