A second round of testing for H5N1 in dairy products confirmed previous sampling results that the pasteurization process kills any active trace of the virus, making it safe for consumption, federal officials announced during a press call on Aug. 13.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted its sample survey using 167 samples, which included products like pasteurized milk, cream cheese, hard cheese, ice cream and aged raw milk cheese. Approximately 17% of the product samples contained genetic material from H5N1, but no viable virus was detected.