On March, 18, 2016 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a news release claiming a link between a “Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis” and raw milk produced by Miller’s Organic Farm in Pennsylvania. According to CDC, the “outbreak” involved two illnesses with one death in 2014.

A family member of the deceased woman have claimed that the CDC’s statement is false and misleading.

“My family member was diagnosed with and died of cancer after a week of chemo,” says Peggy Stevenson, family member and caregiver of the deceased prior to her death. “I am outraged that the CDC is using our tragic situation to damage and try to destroy a farm we love and support.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has spent years aggressively warning people against drinking raw milk with the claim that it causes hundreds more foodborne illness outbreaks than pasteurized milk. Yet, there have been no cases of listeriosis attributed to raw milk consumption going back forty years, or more. Unlike raw milk, pasteurized dairy has been linked to several deaths in the past ten years.

Prior to the false claim from the CDC, there have been no reported illnesses associated with Miller’s Organic Farm in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

“This recent release from the CDC is a deliberate attempt to tarnish raw milk and present false and defamatory information,” says Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nutrition education non-profit based in Washington, DC. “This is a witch-hunt against raw milk. This is clearly not a case of illness associated with raw milk, but rather an agency with an agenda.”

“This is a weak attempt to shut down people’s choices,” says Pete Kennedy, president of the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defense Fund. “It shows this bureaucracy is getting more desperate in trying to stop the growing demand for raw milk.”