Raw milk recall: Hawke's Bay mum backs farm, despite daughter being hospitalised

Rachel Astill with Stella, 6, and Hugo, 2. Photo / Paul Taylor

The family of a young girl whose hospitalisation prompted the Ministry for Primary Industries to order a recall of Lindsay Farm raw milk has hit out at what she says is Government "fear mongering".

Rachel Astill, the mother of Stella, 6, claims MPI has used her daughter's campylobacter illness to deliver the "final nail in the coffin" to Lindsay Farm, which has been fighting the ministry since it was raided last year.

But the ministry says campylobacter illness can be potentially fatal, especially for those with weak immune systems, and the work it is doing aims to make the act of drinking raw milk safer.

Central Hawke's Bay-based Lindsay Farm, one of New Zealand's largest raw milk suppliers, has lost tens of thousands of dollars in the 10 days since it was forced to recall a batch of milk.

The August 13 recall came with an edict that forced it to stop supplying raw milk to the community until it signed up to MPI regulation. It did this on Monday.

The recall affected all Lindsay Farm branded raw drinking milk with a date marked between July 3 and August 11, distributed in a range of locations between Dannevirke and Auckland. The product, which had a positive campylobacter test, was sold in 2 litre plastic bottles.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board at the time said there had been a campylobacter infection in a person whose family regularly drank Lindsay Farm's raw milk.

Astill, a Lindsay Farm supporter, said her family had been drinking raw milk from it for "a very long time, and we've never had any problems".

Astill said Stella had been sick for "a few days" leading up to August, but by the time she was hospitalised she had uncontrollable diarrhoea, fever, cramps and vomiting.

Stella stayed in hospital overnight but has since recovered.

Astill said there had been no other illness in her family and she also said there had been problems with her fridge that should be looked into.

"I feel like MPI is using my daughter's case as a final nail in the coffin for Lindsay Farm.

"They have been struggling ever since the recall and I don't even know if their milk was to blame.

"We had problems with our fridge. It wasn't being chilled properly and wasn't cooling down food, so the source of campylobacter could have been anything.

Paul Ashton, Ange Brooks and Mike Ashton, the owners of Lindsay Farm. Photo / File

"I think Lindsay Farm are being unfairly targetted by MPI. It's fear mongering."

Lindsay Farm co-owner Ange Brooks said since one of its batches tested positive for campylobacter, six further tests had come back negative.

"One of the batches we sent to be tested was another batch of the same milk that came back positive for our piece of mind.

"The second batch we tested came back negative."

Since the recall the family-run farm has been in limbo, without any ability to supply milk.

MPI sent a letter on August 14 saying they had to sign up to its Regulated Control Scheme [RCS] for the sale of raw milk, or cease the supply of milk to the community.

It's the same scheme the family has been fighting since its introduction, and it left them in a quandary, Brooks said.

"We have been sitting idle... have been dumping milk, since then. It's our only source of income."

Desperate, the family decided to send in their application to sign up to the scheme on Monday.

Brooks said while it would allow them to supply some milk, it would create huge logistical challenges for them.

"Now we have the massive task of trying to figure out how to deliver milk to the 1900 families who drink it, families we are 'hugely grateful' to."

MPI national manager food compliance Melinda Sando said current regulations require raw milk suppliers to register with MPI, follow strict hygiene and testing protocols, and to ask customers for contact details so that any discovery of potential health risks can be followed up.

"MPI has worked hard, over a long period, to bring raw milk producers and business on-board. We have had a great deal of success in doing so."

Sando said while the girl had since been discharged from hospital, there was significant risk for young children exposed to campylobacter.

"Campylobacter bacteria can cause serious illness and even be fatal – particularly for babies and young children who have very weak immune systems.

"There is also a higher risk of getting sick if you are pregnant, elderly or have a weakened immune system due to illness."