Sales of Meadow Gold 2% milk halted due to bacteria levels

The state Department of Health ordered Meadow Gold Dairies to stop selling its 2 percent reduced-fat milk because of signs of potential contamination.

The state issued a cease and desist order to Meadow Gold Dairies, a brand of Dallas-based Dean Foods Co., on Monday. The DOH’s order was in response to milk samples exceeding limits for coliform bacteria — an indicator of contamination.

Jamaison Schuler, spokesman for Dean Foods, said internal testing did not reveal quality or safety concerns, but the company is “taking this situation very seriously.”

“We test our products regularly before, during and after processing to ensure quality, and it’s important to understand that product being sold in stores is not affected,” Schuler said in a statement. “We have not received any consumer complaints.”

Schuler said in a phone interview the milk in the stores is safe to drink, but the high levels of coliform might lead to early spoilage.

The DOH tests of the 2 percent reduced-fat milk on Jan. 19 and Feb. 6 and 22 showed coliform counts of nearly 15 times the maximum permissible. The tests revealed 150 coliforms per milliliter, 130 coliforms per milliliter and more than 150 coliforms per milliliter, respectively. The maximum allowed limit is 10 per milliliter.

Coliforms describe some bacteria that can be found in water, on plants and in the gut of animals, according to Stuart Donachie, chairman of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Donachie said finding coliforms in milk shows the pasteurization process did not work or that the finished product was contaminated.

“The pasteurization process should kill them,” he said.

DOH conducts monthly tests of Grade A raw and pasteurized milk produced at dairy farms and milk plants in Hawaii.

Peter Oshiro, program manager of the DOH Sanitation Branch, said the department’s inspectors will work with Meadow Gold Dairies to get the company back to standards to resume production of the 2 percent milk.

“Milk production is regulated with routine testing both at the farm and after packaging to ensure a safe product,” Oshiro said in a statement.

Schuler said the source of the problem is at the Honolulu plant, one of two facilities the company has in Hawaii.

“They’ve asked us not to process in that facility,” he said.

Schuler said Meadow Gold will be moving the production of 2 percent milk to other facilities, including its other processing plant in Hilo.

Schuler said the company can’t identify the source of the milk.

“We get some milk from the mainland, and almost all of Hawaii’s milk we have to supplement with milk from the mainland,” he said. “It’s hard to pinpoint where this milk has come from.”

Meadow Gold Dairies can resume distribution and selling of 2 percent reduced-fat milk if it passes health inspections and undergoes additional testing, the Health Department said. “All other milk products from Meadow Gold Dairies meet state and federal standards required for distribution and sale,” the agency said.

Schuler declined to estimate the financial impact or the time it will take to get the Honolulu plant up to state standards.