Mark McAfee, a raw milk producer based in California, has made products that have been deemed unsafe and recalled several times due to bird flu contamination, a problem that that would have been eliminated by pasteurization. The suspect quality of his milk has not stopped an expanding group of raw milk drinkers from continuing to use the product, however, nor prevented Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from reportedly approaching McAfee with an offer to guide the incoming administration's raw milk policy.
According to The Guardian, McAfee said that he had recently been asked by members of Kennedy's transition team to apply for a position advising the department on raw milk policy and standards development. The idea, he told The Guardian, would be to create a "raw milk ordinance" to mirror existing federal standards for pasteurized milk. His appointment would be the latest in a long queue of industry heads being selected by Trump and his allies to run the agencies that regulate their own industries.
Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the health department and himself a purveyor of raw milk, including McAfee's products, has said that he would pull regulations on raw milk, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise against consuming. Those two agencies are now in Kennedy's crosshairs, with the anti-vaccine activist and science skeptic declaring that Trump's return to office will mark an end to their "war on public health," as would their "aggressive suppression" of raw milk.
While states regulate the sale of raw milk, the FDA prohibits the interstate sale of raw milk for health and safety reasons. In 2008, McAfee's company admitted to labeling raw milk products with "pet food" stickers in order to illegally sell it across state lines. Earlier this month, McAfee's company, Raw Farm, had to recall all of its milk and cream products from its stores after state health and agriculture officials found bird flu virus in samples. And last year, Raw Farm was hit with several lawsuits stemming from a salmonella outbreak that affected 171 people across California.
The FDA has said that raw milk is full of viral and bacterial particles from infected udder tissues, cow manure, milking equipment and other sources — and it's not the kind that benefits gut health. Infections have sickened dairy workers and raw milk drinkers alike, but Kennedy and McAfee apparently believe that the solution is less regulation, not more.
