After monitoring the two most recent recalls of raw milk in Pennsylvania, we’ve wondered about the amount of time between testing for listeria and the public notice when it’s bad.

Washington State may have the same problem.

 A routine sample of unpasteurized milk taken April 7 from Our Lady of the Rock Dairy in San Juan County tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, according to a statement from Valoria Loveland, Washington State’s director of agriculture.

Loveland says her department learned of the results on Thursday, April 17th, and issued the warning the same day.   Still ten days has passed, and raw milk purchased at the dairy during the week of April 7th probably has been consumed.   If not, folks are urged by the ag director to throw it out.

"If consumers have raw milk from Our Lady of the Rock Dairy, they should discard it immediately," Loveland said in the statement

The time lag between testing and notice that we are seeing in these raw milk recalls mean that it’s only a matter of time before people are going to get sick before they are notified.

There’s a story in the Capital Press here.