Fragments of the virus that causes bird flu, H5N1, were found in roughly one in five pasteurized milk samples across the US, the US Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday. A day later, the agency posted an update with good news, confirming that additional testing of the samples didn’t turn up active or infectious virus, which is what experts have said would be the case since pasteurization is expected to kill or inactivate bird flu virus, as it does other potentially harmful bacteria and viruses.
The FDA says the milk supply remains safe; pasteurization is a requirement for commercial milk, making up the vast majority of milk found on store shelves (though not all, depending on local laws around raw milk sales).
Still, the announcement about evidence of virus in pasteurized milk was jarring because since bird flu was first reported in US dairy cows, evidence of it had…
