Tag Archives: Raw Milk Cheese

Do Michael Schmidt’s cows ‘produce wonderful abstract-expressionist paintings in their off hours’

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The Owen Sound Sun Times has had enough of raw milk evangelist Michael Schmidt.

The Ontario paper  correctly observes that the Ontario government does not have the capacity to ensure that unpasteurized milk is safe to distribute and Michael Schmidt does not have the right to pick and choose which laws he wishes to obey.

Schmidt’s raw-milk operation may be the most sparkling-clean in all of Ontario. His methods of storage and transport may be beyond reproach. His milk cows may be grass-fed, free-range, pest-free and of above average intelligence. For all we know they may produce wonderful abstract-expressionist paintings in their off hours.

That does not change the fact that drinking raw milk brings with it a heightened risk of salmonella, E. coli and Listeriosis. Nor does it change the fact that pasteurization saves lives.

Anyone who doesn’t believe this should ask someone old enough to remember the days before pasteurization was introduced.

If selling raw milk were legal, it would in short order become a big business. The Ontario government, knowing the statistical risks of raw-milk distribution, would be legally and morally responsible for ensuring that no one got sick as a result.

That is a chance no responsible, reasonable government can or will take.

Therefore, Schmidt’s crusade will fail. It should fail.

One man, however impassioned, cannot set health policy for all Ontarians, in the face of medical evidence that doing so would put people at risk.
 

If these people are experts, what’s a consumer to do?

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I cringe every time I’m called an expert.

I know a little bit about how to coach girl’s hockey, I know how to make graduate students cry, I know a few other things involving chocolate. I’m amazed at what I don’t know about food and food safety.

But we’re all experts cause we all eat.

The Boston Globe asked some alleged experts about their food concerns.

Dr. Anita Barry of Hingham, director of the infectious disease bureau for the Boston Public Health Commission, says she focuses on washing all produce and she only uses plastic-made cutting boards because wooden ones can have germ-trapped cracks.

Washing produce removes little in the way of pathogens – has to be minimized on the farm – and wooden cutting boards are fine.

Zach Conrad of Brighton, a former co-odinator at the nonprofit Center for Food Safety in Washington, D.C., believes that today’s organic farmers take greater care around sanitation and safety issues.

Sorry Zach, absolutely no evidence for that.

Lilian Schaer has a unique theory on why there is an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with a Harvey’s restaurant in North Bay, Ontario.

“At Harvey’s, frozen beef patties are grilled once you place your order – and there is plenty of room for error in that process, especially if the restaurant is busy, there isn’t enough staff, or staff aren’t trained or supervised properly.”

So why aren’t there other outbreaks at Harvey’s across Canada? Lilian also says farmers are great and bad handling is where things go wrong. Today she called E. coli O157:H7 a virus. Lilian is a communications specialist, apparently trained at Guelph.

Gina Mallet reacted to the Michael Schmidt raw milk conviction today by saying

“Michael Schmidt’s raw milk has never been found to have listeria or e coli, none of his customers have turned up in intensive care.  People who buy raw milk know there’s an outside risk of a pathogen in unpasteurized milk.

"But no one who ate the listeria laced deli meat and now, the  e-coli burgers from a North Bay Wendy’s knew they were dicing with death when they ate processed and fast food. … Fact is, and the government knows it, that the dirty human hand is a greater danger to our food than not pasteurizing milk.”

It’s a Harvey’s in North Bay. And Gina, you don’t know if Schmidt’s milk has made someone sick or not. It’s OK to say, I don’t know. The dirty hand? Sure, but I follow the poop, some of which is on the hand, some elsewhere.
 

Ontario Farmer Michael Schmidt found guilty of contempt of court in raw milk case

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An organic farmer accused of ignoring a court order to stop selling unpasteurized milk was found guilty of contempt of court Monday morning in Newmarket, Ont.

Michael Schmidt has run a co-operative organic dairy farm near Owen Sound, Ont., for more than 20 years.

Contempt charges were sought by York Region officials, who fear there are health risks for people consuming the raw milk, including the risk of spreading salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

Schmidt also still faces 20 charges laid by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Grey-Bruce Health Unit. That trial is expected to begin in early 2009.

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

and an updated one here.

Raw milk sickens three in Vermont, including toddler, with E. coli

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Officials with the Vermont Health Department say raw milk from a local producer is the only epidemiological link involving three cases of E. coli illness.

 Patsy Kelso, an epidemiologist with the health department, said,

"We didn’t find any other common exposure. It’s strong evidence, but it’s not conclusive. It’s still not absolute proof because we didn’t get a hold of any of the raw milk to test."

The name of the raw milk producer is not being released, because the state cannot be sure that the milk was the source, she said.

The state doesn’t have the regulatory authority to force a recall even if a source is pinpointed with proof. Besides, the batch of milk that possibly was the source has already been consumed or discarded, she said. Raw milk has a short shelf life.

Two of the three people ate ice cream made from raw milk at a picnic. The third person drank raw milk from the same producer, but not at the picnic. One of the three recent cases involved a toddler who had kidney problems.
 

Schwarzenegger vetos Calif. raw milk bill

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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a proposal to let the state’s two raw milk bottlers bypass bacteria standards that treat raw milk like pasteurized milk, saying,

“This bill weakens food safety standards in California, something I cannot support. … Looking past the lobbying techniques, public relations campaign, and legal maneuvering in the courts, one conclusion is inescapably clear: the standard in place has kept harmful products off the shelves and California’s raw milk dairies have been operating successfully under it for the entirety of 2008.

"Based on fears with no basis in fact, the proponents of SB 201 seek to replace California’s unambiguous food safety standards for raw milk. Instead they have created a convoluted and undefined regulatory process with no enforcement authority or clear standards to protect public health.”

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

Raw milk with campylobacter sickens at least seven across Pennsylvania

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health is warning consumers who purchased raw milk from Hendricks Farm & Dairy of Telford, Montgomery County, to immediately discard the raw milk and any items made with the raw milk due to potential bacterial contamination. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized.

Recently, individuals who consumed raw milk purchased from the dairy were found to have gastrointestinal illness due to Campylobacter, a bacterial infection. Since September 1, a total of seven confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection have been reported among raw milk drinkers in seven unrelated households in Pennsylvania and a neighboring state. Other individuals in these households have also experienced similar gastrointestinal illness. The investigation is ongoing.

The Department of Agriculture today suspended the farm’s raw milk permit and instructed the owner to stop selling raw milk for human consumption until the permit is reinstated. The Department of Agriculture will require two raw milk samples drawn at least one day apart to be tested negative for bacterial pathogens before raw milk sales may resume.

For more information about Campylobacter, visit the Department of Health at www.health.state.pa.us or call 1-877-PA-HEALTH.

In addition to showing up in Sarah Palin’s Alaskan peas via bird poop, campylobacter was found in a sample of Grade A raw cream produced by Organic Pastures in California. Fortunately, no illnesses have been associated with the poop in raw California cream.
 

Whole Foods and Martin Sheen flog raw milk

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Hollywood heavyweight Martin Sheen is lending his voice to the battle to protect consumer choice, as a measure to help keep safe, well-regulated raw milk on California store shelves heads to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for signature.

At least that’s what the press release from California State Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, says. Sure, consumers can have choice. And lawyers like Bill Marler and the victims of foodborne illness have the choice to litigate against those who peddle poop. Whole Foods may as well paint a bullseye on its logo.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture has a comprehensive report on its most recent investigation of raw milk related illness at

http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/marketing_files/bulletin/Wednesday_Augus t_20_2008_issue.pdf

On July 16th, 2008 the Connecticut Department of Agriculture began an investigation of a possible link between several reported illnesses and the consumption of Retail Raw Milk (unpasteurized milk). Recently we concluded that investigation. The investigation was prompted when the Department was notified by Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) Epidemiologists of 2 reported illnesses in which both patients had consumed Retail Raw Milk from a dairy licensed to produce Retail Raw Milk and pasteurized milk and milk products. The patients were aged 2 and 7, one was on dialysis. After notifying the dairy of the investigation, the dairy voluntarily stopped sale of all milk. Soon after the initial 2 reported illnesses, DPH reported 2 additional cases linked to the dairy. By the time we concluded our investigation a total of 7 known individuals were sickened from consuming Retail Raw Milk and several were hospitalized. The Retail Raw Milk implicated in this incident was purchased from 2 separate national, natural food, chain store locations and directly from the farm. None of the reported illnesses were linked to pasteurized milk and milk products produced at this dairy. The individuals sickened had acquired a condition known as Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and one case of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP). HUS is a disorder that occurs when an infection in the digestive system produces toxic substances that destroy red blood cells. …

After extensive testing of milk, milk contact surfaces, water sources, the environment in and around the farm and processing plant and, analysis of feces from each milking aged animal, the department obtained a genetic fingerprint match between E. coli O157:H7 recovered from the feces of 1 cow and E. coli O157:H7 isolated from 3 patients. Approximately 170 separate samples and specimens of milk, water, feces and swabs of milk contact surfaces were analyzed by the DPH Public Health Laboratory in a 3 week period. …

The department has concluded that the most likely cause of this food borne illness outbreak was the consumption of Retail Raw Milk contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. While good sanitation and management practices can lower the incidence of pathogens in raw milk we believe and studies support the position that pasteurization is the only proven way to eliminate pathogens from raw milk.
 

Seven pregnant women among 14 sickened with listeria from Quebec cheese

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In 2004, I spent a week at a cottage with a couple of my children in Eastern Ontario near Sandbanks Provincial Park on Lake Ontario. Lovely spot.

One rainy day, we toured around and ended up at a cheese shop. They produced the cheese in the factory at the back, and had a charming market outlet that seemed to trap tourists like bees on sap.

Upon entering the store, a sign declared, “HACCP – A food safety program; Hazard Analysis Critical Control Pont.” Cool. I asked one of the staff what it meant. She said she didn’t know.

But beside the HACCP proclamation was a sign that read, “Public bathroom is out of order; for your convenience there is a blue Johnny on the spot behind the building (sic).”

And here it is (left). Note the lack of handwashing facilities or sanitizer. I watched people go to the porta potty and then come into the cheese shop and do what people do at quaint cheese shops: stick their unwashed hands into shared samples of curds (that’s one of my daughters looking disgusted in the middle, right, not because of the practice, but because I have to take pictures and be a food safety geek everywhere we go).

HACCP really doesn’t mean much unless there is a culture of food safety amongst the employees and everyone involved in making a product, like cheese or deli meat.

Best as I can figure, there is a separate outbreak of listeria in Quebec, in which one has died and 14 have been sickened. Eleven different types of cheese have been recalled, and many of them appear to be raw milk cheese, which the Quebec government recently approved for sale.

While merchants are complaining about the crackdown and lost sales, what seems to have been lost in the coverage is that seven pregnant women – four confirmed, three suspected – have developed listeriosis and three gave birth prematurely.

Sylvie Thibault, a customer sampling some of the free cheeses at La Fromagerie Atwater yesterday, said she’s not worried, stating,
 
"I have started to double-check what cheese I buy. But I won’t stop eating the food I love because of a little scare."

Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, said,
 
"We need to put this in perspective," adding it’s important "not to have people think every time they bite into a piece of brie, they’re risking death."

Wow. I wouldn’t want to be pregnant in Quebec. So, Quebec government (Canada has no real authority in Quebec), given the number of pregnant women who have been sickened, any efforts to highlight the risks of listeria in certain foods to at-risk populations? Or is it just a silly little scare?

The recalled products from Fromagerie Medard are: Le Rang des Iles, Le 14 Arpents, Les Petits Vieux, Le Gedeon, Le Medard, Le Couventine, Le Cabrouet and Les Cailles, all with best-before dates between July 12 and Sept. 6. Products pulled off shelves from Fromagerie Table Ronde are: Le Fleurdelyse, Le Fou de Roi and Le Rassembleu with best-before dates after July 14.

Last week, cheeses manufactured by Fromages La Chaudiere were recalled because of salmonella, blamed for the death of an elderly person in the Chaudiere Appalaches region and 90 illnesses across Quebec.
 

Ontario man hospitalized 34 days with listeria from raw milk cheese(?) Wife calls for warning labels

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Jockie Loomer-Kruger of Kitchener, Ontario, writes in a letter to the K-W Record today that that she and her husband holidayed in Quebec City this June and delighted in sampling many specialty cheeses made from raw milk. Then the husband became ill.

After 34 days in hospital with listeria infection, her husband came home.

Loomer-Kruger says,

"it may be time that unpasteurized milk and milk products carried the same kinds of warnings seen on cigarette packages, products that contain nuts, or on toys with small choking-hazard parts.

"For example: "WARNING! This raw milk product may contain dangerous bacteria which could cause serious illness or death. At risk are the very young, pregnant women (potential miscarriages or stillbirths), the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, or those with artificial body parts such as heart valves or replaced joints. CONSUME AT YOUR OWN RISK."
 

Quebec says yes to raw milk cheese – and it’s recalled for listeria

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On the same day that Quebec moved to permit raw milk cheese aged less than 60 days, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Portuguese Cheese Co. warned the public not to consume Santa Maria brand Queijo de Cabra (fresh goat cheese) because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Does fresh mean raw? How’s a pregnant woman – or a guy who really doesn’t like to barf — to know?

No matter, the Montreal Gazette came out Saturday and exclaimed in an editorial that “the trick is to manage the risks carefully, and make sure potential consumers understand the situation. Quebec seems to have taken health concerns into account. Under the new rules, Quebec will require each cheesemaker to know his or her milk supplier personally, and to be knowledgeable about the dairy operation in question.”

Yes I know you. Therefore it is safe.

Mansel Griffiths, a dairy microbiologist at the University of Guelph and my PhD supervisor (right, not exactly as shown) says the 60-day limit has become arbitrary, since it is no longer a guarantee of destroying pathogens. Still, he believes raw-milk cheese continues to pose health-safety issues over potential pathogens.