Milk recall is taking cartons off shelves in small stores in 11 counties across North Jersey; Hudson not on list

Friday, September 10, 2010
By VICTORIA ST. MARTIN
THE STAR-LEDGER

A New York dairy is recalling milk that could have been sold in small stores in 11 New Jersey counties, agriculture officials said.

Midland Farms of Menands, N.Y., which ships milk into northern New Jersey, is recalling all milk products with a "sell by" date of Sept. 24 because of improper pasteurization, according to the New York State Department of Agriculture.

Hudson County is not on the list of affected counties.

While the recalled products have not been found to be contaminated with any harmful pathogens, a department release said the company is voluntarily recalling all production from that day as a precautionary measure.

Jeff Beach, a New Jersey Department of Agriculture spokesman, said the milk could be in stores in Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, Union, Essex, Warren, Hunterdon, Morris, Middlesex, Somerset and Monmouth counties.

Beach said Midland Farms milk is sold under four brand names: Midland Farms, Jersey Dairy Farms, Corrado's Market and Trade Fair Premium.

According to New York agriculture officials, the milk was also sold in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. The milk has the plant code 36-1661.

Midland Farms announced the recall yesterday after New York milk inspectors found a failure of pasteurization equipment at the Menands milk plant.

Jessica Ziehm, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, said the inspectors found the failure during a Sept. 7 inspection.

Ziehm said Midland Farms officials decided not to wait for testing, and instead began the recall process. The failure at the Menands plant has since been fixed, she said.