Raw Milk Farmer at Center of Bird Flu Recalls Says RFK Jr. Told Him to Apply to Food Advisory Role

Raw Milk CEO Mark McAfee, the raw milk producer currently at the center of a second recall due to a bird flu outbreak, claims that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s transition team told him to apply for a position at the Food and Drug Administration.

RFK Jr., who was nominated last month by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the US Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS), is a raw milk enthusiast who plans expand its access, per the Los Angeles Times. DHHS oversees numerous agencies, including the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RFK Jr.'s intention to promote to raw milk, coupled with the human cases of bird flu that are emerging across the nation (nearly half of the 58 confirmed cases occurred among dairy farm workers in California, per the CDC), the industry has been under a microscope. But that isn't stopping RFK Jr. from recruiting likeminded collaborators.

McAfee's farm itself is also at the center of 11 lawsuits regarding the salmonella outbreak that caused 171 to become ill in California, a food safety lawyer told the Los Angeles Times.

Regardless, the CEO told Los Angeles Times he applied for the position of "FDA advisor on raw milk policy and standards development."