I’ve been wrestling with a raw-milk dilemma of sorts. Not a huge dilemma, and not something in which my decision will have a lot of impact.

But the more I think about it, the more agitated I find myself becoming.

Here’s the situation: A few days ago a California reader forwarded me a one-page statement of “Research Survey Information” the California Department of Public Health and the Del Norte County Health Department have been distributing, presumably intended for residents of Del Norte County. It said these public health agencies “are conducting a research survey to learn more about raw (unpasteurized) milk.”

Del Norte County, you may remember, is the California county that had an outbreak of illness from campylobacter just about a year ago, which was attributed to raw milk distributed under a local cow-leasing program at Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms. According to a report prepared by the California Department of Public Health, 16 people became ill—15 of whom had consumed milk from the cow-leasing dairy and one who was a dairy employee.

Part of what made the case noteworthy was that a public health employee was the most severely stricken, contracting Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a complication from campylobacter, after consuming raw milk for the first time just days previous. She became a client of Bill Marler, the food poisoning lawyer, who described the case on his blog a few weeks ago.

A couple other things worth pointing out. The state report on the illnesses provided data on the raw-milk-drinking history of those individuals who became ill, and provided some anti-raw-milk propaganda as well, which I discussed in a posting.

Finally, the state report recommended that officials “Continue public education efforts regarding health risks associated with consuming unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk products.” One of the authors of that October 2008 report was Amy Karon, Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the California Department of Public Health.

I mention the recommendation and Amy Karon because the new one-page notification of a survey names her as the principal contact. It alerts Del Norte County residents receiving notification that “we will be calling your household and other households in your area to ask household members age 18 and older what they think about raw milk and raw milk products.” Participation is voluntary, participants are told, and “the information provided by you and others in your community will help us better understand what people think about raw milk, and improve the way that we teach people about this food.”

I telephoned Amy Karon, whose name and number are shown on the survey notification, to ask her a few basic questions about the survey—whether it was limited to Del Norte County, how many people she expected to be surveyed, when the results might be available, how I might obtain a copy of the questions to be asked, and how the public might access the results. This last question, I thought, was particularly important, since generally, the results of such surveys are revealed mainly in obscure scientific papers that may or may not be published.

So when I asked her my first question about how the survey came about, she said, “This is a research survey. It is just starting. To give you information could bias the results.” When I started to ask another question, she said, “I can’t tell you anything else about this,” and hung up the phone.

Now, “bias the results” is a common concern for anyone conducting surveys of any type. If your respondents aren’t representative of the population at large (perhaps more or fewer raw milk drinkers than the general population, for example), the results might be considered skewed from a scientific perspective.

So my dilemma is this: Should I be respectful of Amy Karon’s concerns, and excuse her refusal to answer even the most basic questions about the survey? Or should I and others with an interest in the subject be prodding her to be more forthcoming, and let concerned consumers know such basic facts as when the survey might be completed and how they might obtain the results?

I’ve conducted a number of surveys over the course of my writing and business career, and can appreciate her desire to obtain the most complete and accurate data possible. But I’ve never conducted one on an issue of pressing public concern. I think if I were, I would want to be open and forthright about the whole thing, even if it meant possibly skewing the results.

My big problem is that, even though Amy Karon and her colleagues may be dedicated scientists and public servants, I have no faith in their employer to allow an objective survey, and for the results to be generally disseminated. Here’s one example of a question I can imagine being on the survey: 

Q: Since the outbreak of campylobacter at Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms, the following statement best describes my feelings about raw milk:

A. I am very afraid of raw milk.

B. I am beyond very afraid, I am terrified by raw milk.

C. I get an upset stomach if someone even mentions raw milk.

D. If that dairy starts distributing raw milk again, I think I’ll have an anxiety attack.

E. All of the above.

Given these kinds of questions (and I suspect I’m not that far off) I fear that whatever the results, the message to the public will be that consumer respondents (the actual number doesn’t even matter) are very worried about the dangers of raw milk, and therefore we must continue to be diligent in opposing consumption. When government regulators talk about wanting to “improve the way that we teach people about this food,” what they really mean is they want to come up with more effective techniques for disseminating anti-raw-milk propaganda.