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Dr. Calonge responded to some specific questions that were raised during testimony and
discussed the findings from his Internet search of the current peer reviewed medical
literature in the United States going back 15 years. He stated that since 1979 there have
been 29 outbreaks of campylobacter associated with the consumption of raw milk, one of
which occurred in certified milk. He stated that between 1981 and 1990 alone, there were
20 raw milk outbreaks in children in 11 states; and so there is an impact on people who
are not making informed choices. Regarding salmonella and raw milk, he stated that from
1979 to 2003, there are 19 outbreaks in the peer reviewed medical literature of salmonella
associated not with partially or underpasteurized milk, but with the consumption of raw
milk, including a 1985 Arizona outbreak, where a 72 year old woman died from
salmonella associated with the ingestion of raw milk. He stated that from 1980-82 there
were 21 raw milk associated outbreaks that affected 1,096 persons, with 8 deaths
including two children; therefore, the risks associated with raw milk consumption are not
trivial. He stated he also searched the medical literature for studies on the health benefits
of raw milk and he was unable to find any credible scientific evidence that supports
health benefits associated with the consumption of raw milk. He stated that he applauds
the 31-year history of the two California dairies that have not had an outbreak. However,
he stated that there is a fixed probability of an outbreak from those dairies that is present
on a day to day basis that is not zero.
Dr. Calonge stated that raw milk sales today are prohibited in Colorado. He said the issue
in front of the Board is whether cow share operations are a violation of that prohibition.
He stated that not to continue the support of the ban of raw milk sales would be a major
step back in health and science for the people of Colorado. Dr. Calonge concluded by
reiterating earlier staff comments that the department does not know how to regulate raw
milk and make it safe. He stated that the department’s preference clearly is that the Board
adopt the rule as proposed and extend the raw milk prohibition to cow share operations.
He stated that if the Board finds in its deliberations that it cannot do that, the department
would further request that the Board leave things as they are rather than move the
department towards the direction of doing something that it does not feel it can do safely
in its mission to protect the public health.
Board Deliberations: The Board deliberated on the issues raised in testimony by the
public, department staff and legal counsel. As the deliberations proceeded, Mr. Lynch
was asked to describe in detail how the cow share operation works. Dr. Barkett asked Ms.
Shpall to affirm that she, as a representative of the Attorney General’s Office, but not as a
formal opinion of the Attorney General, feels that the decision that the Attorney
General’s Office made in 1995 was incorrect, and that in fact, the cow share program did
represent a sale and still represents a sale,
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