Tag Archives: Milk

Raw milk: it’s all about the money

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I admire Cindy Westover for her honesty.

Cindy told the Brattleboro Reformer yesterday that her family swung open its barn doors at Great Brook Farm over the weekend to celebrate its decision to start selling raw milk in the new milkhouse farm store, to give her family a greater margin on every gallon sold, and for dairy farmers, every extra dollar helps.

The story talks about the differences between state laws in New Hampshire and Vermont, with Westover saying the Vermont raw milk law — apparently a variation of don’t ask don’t tell — makes it harder for farmers, adding,

"It’s too bad Vermont has that rule because if Vermont and New Hampshire dairy farmers go out of business, it will change everything in the two states. The state should do what it can to help farmers survive."

Listeria found in pasteurized milk

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Two elderly men died from listeriosis contracted from contaminated milk from Whittier Farms in Shrewsbury, Mass. in June and October. Just this week, state health officials warned consumers not to drink milk from the farm, while they investigated the source of contamination.

Officials today announced that the pasteurization process at the dairy was found to be working properly and that contamination must have occurred after the milk was pasteurized.

Doctor Alfred DeMaria, the state director of communicable disease control, says the dairy appeared to do everything right.

The dairy continues to suspend operations and work with officials to pinpoint the source of the deadly listeria.

If Ron Paul can bring in $6 million in a weekend, can’t iFSN?

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Last Sunday, U.S. Republican presidential candidate and raw-milk darling Ron Paul, set a new record for a presidential candidate in either party, hauling in more than $6 million online.

In the new New Republic, msnbc host Tucker Carlson, in the appropriately titled, On the road with Ron Paul’s merry band of misfits and his hooker fan club, writes,

"that Paul, who is small and delicate and has a high voice, spoke in a near monotone, making no effort to excite the audience. They cheered anyway. Then he said this: ‘The Constitution gives no authority for a central bank.’

"The crowd went wild, or as wild as a group of sober Republicans can on a Monday night. They hooted and yelled and stomped their feet. Paul stopped speaking for a moment, his words drowned out. Then he continued on about monetary policy.

"Paul never outshines his message, which is unchanging: Let adults make their own choices; liberty works. For a unified theory of everything, it’s pretty simple. And Paul sincerely believes it.

"Most Republicans, of course, profess to believe it too. But only Paul has introduced a bill to legalize unpasteurized milk. Give yourself five minutes and see if you can think of a more countercultural idea than that. Most people assume that the whole reason we have a government is to make sure the milk gets pasteurized. It takes some stones to argue otherwise, especially if nobody’s paying you to do it. (The raw-milk lobby basically consists of about eight goat- cheese enthusiasts in Manhattan, and possibly the Amish.)

"Paul is pro-choice on pasteurization entirely for reasons of principle. ‘I support the right of people to drink whatever they want," he says. He mocks the idea that "only government can make sure we’re safe, so we need the government to protect us. I don’t think we’d all die of unsafe food if we didn’t have the FDA. Someone else would do it.’"

Hey, I’m all for libertarianism. But what about the kids that get sick?

From 1998 to 2005, a total of 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported to CDC in which unpasteurized milk (or cheese suspected to have been made from unpasteurized milk) was implicated. These outbreaks accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations, and two deaths.
Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with unpasteurized milk likely is greater.

A table of the outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/1138/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf

Yes, lots of foods make people sick. And people should be free to choose what they ingest.

The 19th century English utilitarian philosopher, John Stuart Mill, noted that choice has limits, stating, "if it [in this case the consumption of raw unpasteurized milk] only directly affects the person undertaking the action, then society has no right to intervene, even if it feels the actor is harming himself."

Excused from Mill’s libertarian principle are those people who are incapable of self-government – children.

Science can be used to enhance what nature provided. Further, society has a responsibility to the many — philosopher Mill also articulated how the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one — to use knowledge to minimize harm.

Adults, do whatever you think works to ensure a natural and healthy lifestyle, but please, don’t impose your dietary regimes on those incapable of protecting themselves: your kids.

And support the International Food Safety Network.

Give large. Give small. It’s all on-line at
https://one.found.ksu.edu/ccon/new_gift.do?action=newGift&CCN_FUND_ID=3894&SCENARIO=SELECTFUND

Any problems, just e-mail me, dpowell@ksu.edu.

And if you benefit from our services, then we’re continuing with our payment model that alt.music darlings Radiohead stole from us: pay what you want. If there’s that much money for Ron Paul, there’s some for safe food.

Got campylobacter?

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The Washington State Agriculture Department warned consumers Monday not to consume raw or unpasteurized cows milk from the Pleasant Valley Dairy in Ferndale with a sell-by date of Dec. 20.

The milk may be contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni and that local health departments are reviewing Campylobacter illness reports that may be related to the milk.

A table of outbreaks linked raw milk or cheese produced from raw milk is available at:

http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=1138

Raw milk sickens the unsuspecting — again

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In May, 1943, Edsel Bryant Ford, son of auto magnate Henry Ford, died at the age of 49 in Detroit, of what some claimed was a broken heart.

Medical authorities, however, decreed that Ford died of undulant fever, apparently brought on by drinking unpasteurized milk from the Ford dairy herd, at the behest of his father’s mistaken belief that all things natural must be good.

It seems like every week in the U.S. there is a report of unpasteurized milk testing positive for listeria or salmonella or E. coli or campylobacter or some other dangerous bug; every month there is a report of people, largely children, sickened after consuming unpasteurized milk.

This month it’s Kansas, where at least 87 people have been poisoned with campylobacter in two separate outbreaks — one linked to consumption of raw milk, and the other to cheese made from raw milk.

Raw milk drinkers believe the pasteurized milk found on grocery store shelves lack the essential enzymes and nutrients necessary to absorb calcium — yet research shows this is simply not the case. The only things lacking in pasteurized milk are the bacteria that make people — especially kids — seriously ill.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that in 1938, before widespread adoption of milk pasteurization, an estimated 25 per cent of all foodborne and waterborne outbreaks of disease were associated with milk.

By 2001, the percentage of such outbreaks associated with milk was estimated at less than 1 per cent. From 1998 to 2005, a total of 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported to CDC in which unpasteurized milk (or cheese suspected to have been made from unpasteurized milk) was implicated. These outbreaks accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations, and two deaths.

Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with unpasteurized milk likely is greater.

A table of the outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf

Yes, lots of foods make people sick. And people should be free to choose what they ingest.

The 19th century English utilitarian philosopher, John Stuart Mill, noted that choice has limits, stating, "if it [in this case the consumption of raw unpasteurized milk] only directly affects the person undertaking the action, then society has no right to intervene, even if it feels the actor is harming himself."

Excused from Mill’s libertarian principle are those people who are incapable of self-government – children.

Science can be used to enhance what nature provided. Further, society has a responsibility to the many — philosopher Mill also articulated how the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one — to use knowledge to minimize harm.

Adults, do whatever you think works to ensure a natural and healthy lifestyle, but please, don’t impose your dietary regimes on those incapable of protecting themselves: your kids.

Dr. Douglas Powell is scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University

Raw milk sickens the unsuspecting — again

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Every week in the U.S. there is a report of unpasteurized milk testing positive for listeria or salmonella or E. coli or campylobacter; every month there is a report of people, largely children, sickened after consuming unpasteurized milk in the misguided belief that all things natural are good.

A table of the outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf

49 News reports tonight that two separate outbreaks of campylobacteriosis made at least 87 people sick in Kansas.

Kansas allows raw milk to be sold within the state, but health officials want you to be aware of the health risks that come with consuming raw milk.

In the first outbreak in southwest Kansas, 68 people became ill after eating cheese made from raw (unpasteurized) milk donated by a local dairy for a community celebration. Nineteen people were ill enough to seek medical attention, and two people were hospitalized. Four of these persons tested positive for Campylobacter jejuni; no other food items served at the event were associated with illness.

The second outbreak is linked to a dairy in south central Kansas that sells raw milk directly to consumers. As of November 30, 2007, 19 cases of campylobacteriosis had been reported. Each person reported drinking raw milk purchased from the dairy.

These are rather large numbers of sick people; why is it only public now?

Raw milk goat cheese leads to listeria

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The Quebec ministry of agriculture is warning people not to eat raw milk goat cheese from La Ferme écologique coop d’Ulverton located on Route 143 in Ulverton after a case of Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning was reported in the Montreal area.

Laboratory tests on the raw milk cheese from the Ulverton coop revealed the presence of listeria.

The ministry said the dairy coop does not have the required permit to make cheese destined for consumers and that people should not eat cheese from producers who are not licensed. Only raw milk cheese produced in licensed factories can be consumed safely.

As Amy noted in June, some of the major French producers have switched to using heated milk to reduce the risk of disease. Lactilis’ spokesperson, Luc Morelon said that although they recognize the importance of Camembert traditions, they’re making the change,

 “[b]ecause consumer safety is paramount, and we cannot guarantee it 100 per cent. We cannot accept the risk of seeing our historic brands disappearing because of an accident in production." In response to his critics Morelon added, “I don’t want to risk sending any more children to hospital. It’s as simple as that."

Prince Charles is an unreliable source of food info

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The Belfast Telegraph reported this week that Prince Charles has been a fan of raw milk  for years and now the health-conscious tribes of LA and New York are claiming that it can help everything from childhood allergies and eczema to digestive disorders.

The story notes that in Britain, the Food Standards Agency says tests on raw milk show that it can contain illness-causing pathogens. Scotland banned it 20 years ago; in England and Wales, sales are restricted to farmer’s markets or directly from farm shops, with labels clearly warning of the risk.

John Barron, of Beaconshill Farm in Herefordshire, points out that stringent regulations to ensure the safety of raw milk tend to mean that the cows are significantly healthier than those on commercial farms. "The simple fact is, we’ve never had a single case of food poisoning," he says.

I’ve never had much trouble finding people who get sick from consuming raw milk. But Britain is a special place, where the Food Standards Agency says it’s OK to use color (or is that colour) as an indicator of doneness in hamburger, where Prince Charles is actually respected, and whose main culinary exports are mushy peas and mad cow disease.

Raw milk strikes again

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Raw milk is, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in a report of a Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak associated with raw milk and cheese consumption in Pennsylvania in 2007, a well-documented source of infections from Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Listeria, Mycobacterium bovis, and other pathogens. In 1938, before widespread adoption of milk pasteurization in the United States, an estimated 25% of all foodborne and waterborne outbreaks of disease were associated with milk.

By 2001, the percentage of such outbreaks associated with milk was estimated at <1%. During 1998–2005, a total of 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported to CDC in which unpasteurized milk (or cheese suspected to have been made from unpasteurized milk) was implicated. These outbreaks accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations, and two deaths (CDC, unpublished data, 2007). Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with unpasteurized milk likely is greater.

Unsubstantiated claims of health benefits of raw milk for infants and children are particularly concerning for caregivers because infants and children are dependent on their caregivers to make safe dietary decisions for them. Sixteen of the 29 ill persons in this outbreak were aged <7 years.

Adults, do what you like, but keep your kids out of the raw milk roulette.