ALBANY COUNTY — Meadowbrook Farms Dairy, of Clarksville, is facing a recall for a batch of chocolate milk that the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets claims was improperly pasteurized. Meadowbrook owner Charles Van Wie disagrees, however, claiming that the batch is perfectly safe. 

The department issued a consumer notice about the milk on May 9, explaining that a routine inspection revealed that the batch wasn’t safe to drink, but did not specify what the issue was. A spokesperson could not immediately be reached for more information. 

The notice said the milk “was packaged in half gallon, glass containers that were processed on April 24, 2024,” and added, “The affected lot has a black dot on the cap signifying the lot code.”

Van Wie told The Enterprise that the recall affected only about 10 cans of milk, a relatively small amount. Meadowbrook Farms distributes milk widely across the Capital Region, and also offers home deliveries. 

The importance of pasteurization has been underlined recently by the spread of bird flu in cattle, and the discovery of viral fragments in milk that are harmless to humans, due to pasteurization, which is essentially the heating of raw milk to kill pathogens. Bird flu has not yet been identified in any New York cattle.

 The Ag and Markets notice said that no illnesses have been reported in connection with the recalled milk. 

Van Wie told The Enterprise that the recall was “just one of [the state’s] petty things,” and said the milk was “all pasteurized. Everything was good except it was lacking a 30-second thing,” going on to say that it was difficult to explain the missing step and why he feels it’s unnecessary. 

“Just one little simple thing …” he said. “It’s a laughing thing, is what it is.” He added that he didn’t want to make it an issue with the state. “They’re out to do what they’ve got to do, so you do what you’ve got to do.”