Testing Finds Harmful Bacteria in Brunton Dairy Milk

The Pennsylvania Agriculture Department and Department of Health is advising consumers and retailers who purchased milk from Brunton Dairy to immediately discard all milk with a sell-by date of Oct. 25 or later. 

As part of ongoing oversight testing of milk samples at the dairy, the Department of Agriculture confirmed a positive test result for Yersinia bacteria from pasteurized, homogenized fat-free milk in a gallon glass bottle with a sell-by date of Oct. 25.

Milk production at the more than 175-year-old dairy in Independence Township, Beaver County, has been suspended until additional testing is completed.

Sewickley Confectionery is one of several area stores that carry the milk. A father and son carried jugs of unfinished milk into the business shortly after receiving an advisory from the store. A clerk at the confectionery said the milk wasn't available at the store Friday evening.

Yersinia enterocolitica causes diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and it can sometimes enter the bloodstream and affect other organs, according to the health department.

Brunton ice cream and bottled milk production was in July following reports that more than a dozen people in Allegheny and Beaver counties were after drinking from the farm. Production in late September following an extensive round of inspections.

Any person who consumed a product from Brunton Dairy and has symptoms of diarrhea or abdominal pain should contact their healthcare provider to assure appropriate specimens are collected and treatment is given.

For more information about food safety, visit www.EatSafePA.com. For more information on yersinia, visit www.health.state.pa.us

 For a list of stores that carry its products, click here.