Does magic food make kids barf?

Posted: April 11th, 2008 - 12:46pm by Doug Powell

"Raw milk is like a magic food for children."

So says Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

She adds.

"Without the green grass, you're missing a lot of vitamins. Also, it's much safer. When cows are eating green grass, you don't find pathogens in their milk."

With such statements, public advocacy becomes public health risk.

The natural reservoirs for E. coli O157:H7 and other verotoxigenic E. coli is the intestines of all ruminants, including cattle -- grass or grain-fed -- sheep, goats, deer and the like. The final report of the fall 2006 spinach outbreak identifies nearby grass-fed beef cattle as the likely source of the E. coli O157:H7 that sickened 200 and killed 4.

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

Kids are often the ones that get sick.

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Categories: E. coli, Raw Food
Tags: Grass-fed, Raw Milk Cheese

Comments

Mike Vaughn says:

Not playing dumb here...but just not well enough educated on this issue. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't the milk that carries the bacterias that cause illnesses, but the sanitary conditions and holding temperatures during milking and storage. Please set me staight. And, no, I'm not affiliated with any group that has a dog in this fight. Just truely interested in food safety.

Posted on April 14th, 2008 - 7:29pm

Chris says:

Milk right out of the udder probably doesn't have many pathogens in it, at least, not the primary pathogens of concern like E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, etc. Those bacteria are found in cow feces or other places in the environment. They can be present ON the cow teat or on cow hides, making transfer to the milk more likely.The problem stems from the fact that dairies are not sterile environments. You cannot separate the cows (and the milk) from the environment. The bacteria are there in the farm environment and even with great hygiene you can't eliminate the risk of contamination totally. Bacteria even spread in hospitals, which we expect to be much more sanitary than a dairy.Milk is also an excellent growth medium for bacteria. So it's not only nutritious for us (and baby cows), but for the bacteria too.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 - 3:57pm

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