Raw milk controversy erupts as a grieving Florida mom seeks justice following a devastating loss

The fallout in Florida relating to the upsurge in consumption of raw milk keeps getting more severe. Now, a woman is suing a Florida dairy farm after feeding raw milk to her child, which led to her toddler’s death.

Previously, social media influencers in the state had been convincing their followers that raw milk was uniquely more beneficial for humans than pasteurized counterparts. Unfortunately, that led to illness in up to two dozen individuals and a warning from health officials that those who fell sick might end up with kidney disease. State officials in Florida linked the infections to one specific dairy farm, yet did not outrightly warn citizens against consuming raw milk.

Now, a woman, Rachel Maddox, is coming forward, saying she expected to be informed of any potential adverse health effects associated with raw milk. NBC reports Maddox filed a lawsuit in Seminole County against Keely Farms Dairy.

Maddox’s lawsuit alleges that she began buying raw milk from the farm when she was 20 weeks into her pregnancy. Florida law requires non-pasteurized milk to be labeled with a notification stating it is for animal consumption and not for human consumption. But allegedly, the non-pasteurized milk from Keely Farms Dairy was sold by salespeople who dismissed Maddox’s concerns about the tag on the bottle of the raw milk. 

According to Maddox’s complaint, when she asked an unspecified person, she was told it was just a “technical requirement.” Being satisfied with that, she went home with the raw milk and served it to her husband and toddler. Reportedly, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is being lobbied by fringe groups to remove such tags from products like raw milk and bleach altogether, which might lead to more such issues in the future.

Maddox only identified her late toddler as L.U. According to the suit, she fed L.U. raw milk on June 8, and the toddler immediately began experiencing vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, chills, dehydration, and fever. From June 9 to 12, L.U. was hospitalized for severe gastroenteritis. The toddler was then in and out of the hospital reportedly for the next couple of weeks before eventually succumbing to his illnesses.

State health officials have already pointed specifically to Keely Farms Dairy and released a statement saying, in part, that they are working hand in hand with the farm to ensure “effective sanitation practices are implemented consistently across every batch.” The same officials also gave a lukewarm warning about the effects of raw milk and highlighted the potential dangers for those who might still choose to consume it.

That’s a welcome update. In a climate where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to champion conspiracy theories — and is celebrated by celebrities for it — it’s best that scientists are also given the opportunity to be heard in matters that demand scientific expertise.

After all, in tragedies like this, when loss comes from avoidable mistakes caused by a lack of proper medical information, people always wish they had been given the right knowledge from the very beginning.