Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: Raw milk seminar series update
As many of you reading this blog may know, Rutgers University has sponsored a seminar series on the topic of raw milk. I am scheduled to present the fourth and final talk in the series on Monday. Today (April 3, 2008) I attended the third talk in the series: “Raw Milk, A Microbiology Primer” presented by Dr. Mark Gebhart, an MD with Wright State University.
Dr. Gebhart is a licensed physician and board certified medical specialist practicing in Ohio. Dr. Gebhart has worked in acute care medicine as a clinician, teacher, and researcher. Dr. Gebhart has taken special interest in raw milk obtained from grass fed cows and believes many of the gastrointestinal disorders affecting millions of Americans could be cured by consumption of this product. 
Gebhart spent the first half of his time pointing out in great detail that raw milk contains multiple redundant systems of bioactive components that reduce or eliminate pathogens. He proceeded to show a series of slides listing more than twenty of these components (e.g. lactoperoxidase, medium chain fatty acids, B-lymphocytes, lysozyme, etc.).
Gebhart’s focus then shifted to the microbial risks in raw milk. He cited one study from a reputable journal (Applied and Environmental Microbiology) that showed that levels of the pathogens Campylobacter decline over time in raw milk. When questioned by one audience member – Dr. Tom Montville – about CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) statistics showing many foodborne disease cases linked to raw milk, Gebhart said the he believed the epidemiological links to raw milk were not conclusively proven.
Gebhart then shared some statistics from two different sources (American Journal of Public Health and the CDC) that show that there were only 1.9 cases of raw milk food poisoning per 100,000 people, vs. 4.7 cases of pasteurized milk food poisoning per people 100,000. Gebhart thought that these data made a compelling point in favor of raw milk, until another audience member – Dr. Mukund Karwe – pointed out that many more people consume pasteurized milk than raw milk. Gebhart then stated that he needed to double check his references.
Gebhart then shared a number of slides in quick succession on a variety of topics including information on the effect of pasteurization on human breast milk, the safety of milk from cows with access to pasture, and the ability of some pathogens (spore formers like B. cereus and C. botulinum) to survive pasteurization. Gebhart quickly wrapped up his talk as the debate between different audience members began to drown him out.
I can’t wait to see how things go on Monday.
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Don Schaffner is an Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers
University.
Listeria contaminated milk may have infected 1300 Bulgarian children
The Sophia news agency is reporting that some 1300 children from Bulgaria's southern municipalities of Dupnitza, Rila, and Kocherinovo will be examined for the dangerous Listeriosis infection after consuming contaminated milk in their kindergardens.
Authorities said the milk contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria was produced by Euromeat and Milk EOOD, which were sanctioned in the end of January over not meeting hygienic requirements.
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Guest barfblogger, Silvia Dominguez: Live from Rutgers raw milk seminar series
The sale of raw milk is currently illegal in the state of New Jersey, but local groups, such as Garden State Raw Milk, are campaigning towards legalization. The Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is hosting of a seminar series on raw milk to inform the public on this topic.
On February 6th, the seminar series started with a presentation by Mark McAfee, from the organic dairy farm Organic Pastures (California): “Raw Milk, mother nature’s inconvenient truth”. Mr. McAfee discussed the health benefits of raw milk consumption as well as the personal satisfaction and commercial advantages of organic farming.
Throughout the talk, emphasis was put on the safe history of raw milk consumption with respect to pathogen contamination and association with foodborne outbreaks, and on the seemingly overwhelming health benefits of the consumption of raw milk as opposed to FDA-approved pasteurized milk. According to Mr. McAfee, raw milk represents an inconvenient truth to big dairies, pharmaceutical companies, western medicine in general and long-distribution chains. Though all these entities may have a commercial interest in keeping raw milk illegal, the consumer would be the one to benefit from its commercialization. Cases were mentioned of raw milk consumers who recovered from diseases such as allergies, lactose intolerance, Crohn’s disease or asthma which were unable to be cured by western medicine. Western medicine was claimed to only treat the symptoms of disease, whereas exercise and the consumption of unprocessed foods, such as organic raw milk, help prevent disease. The ability of raw milk to enhance the immune system is the most generally claimed reason for its health benefits. According to Mr. McAfee, among the factors that contribute to organic raw milk’s beneficial effects are its high content of animal fat (from grass-fed, not grain-fed cows), enzymes, beneficial bacteria, as well as vitamins and minerals. All of these are of course important components of a healthy diet, which are minimized in the standard American diet (aka “S.A.D.”).
In particular, the example of pasteurized milk was used to describe the “harmful” effects of commercial processing. Apart from the destruction of enzymes and probiotic bacteria, it was implied that pasteurization covers for unsanitary processing practices, and that pasteurized product is an easy target for pathogens such as L. monocytogenes. Furthermore, the prevalence in recent times of immune system diseases was correlated with the consumption of processed food products. Unfortunately, scientific evidence is not abundant due to the limited number of research grants available and the implications of doing research against the interests of official agencies.
A number of benefits of organic farming were also mentioned, and from an economic point of view it was emphasized that a market exists for raw milk products, in which a consumer is willing to pay ~$5 per half gallon of organic raw milk.
My personal conclusion of this presentation is that although organic raw milk may represent a more wholesome alternative to pasteurized milk, and has traditionally been consumed raw for centuries, the current state of technology is able to produce microbiologically-safe, nutritious milk readily available to large, wide-spread populations in a cost-efficient manner. The presence of raw milk in the market may be a rightful and, if properly produced, safe alternative to consumers and farmers.
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Silvia is a Graduate Assistant at Rutgers University and is looking forward to the upcoming seminars! ("Raw Milk Wars, Government's Attempt to Dictate What Foods We Can Consume" on 2/20, and “Raw Milk, A Microbiology Primer” on 4/3).
Do happy cows make happy milk?
Are humans safer when they’re happy? Are you?
Ok. Now follow this logic…
Are cows?
I’m willing to go along with the California Cow commercial that claims “Great cheese comes from happy cows” and maybe even the only happy cows in the world come from California. Why not – the weather is nice and the people are laid-back. But does that necessarily mean their milk is safer?
In a post today on http://wewantorganicfood.com/
author, Lynn Cameron says, “If there could be a master key to safe raw milk, I think it would be contented cows.” The author contends that today, some raw milk is unsafe because some cows spend their days indoors, “living on field corn and soybeans to the degradation of their milk and the degeneration of the nation’s health.” I guess this is something akin to the cubicle complex.
Call me a skeptic, but I really need some science to back up this happy feeling. It’s nice to think that happy cows frolicking on the hill cannot produce anything bad. The author of the article rightfully makes a call to our nostalgia – to a happier time before farming was industrialized. Nostalgia is nice, but it does not make food safer. While Cameron says, “It’s not complicated science to understand that quality of life as well as diet affects cows’ milk quality,” her inability to produce that uncomplicated science leaves me completely unconvinced. This kind of thinking, that cows “raised entirely outdoors on green grass and/or hay, their milk is proven time and again greatly reduced in pathogens (bad bacteria),” has really not been proven as explained by David Renter in September 2006. “Cattle raised on diets of ‘grass, hay and other fibrous forage’ do contain E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in their feces as do other animals including deer, sheep, goats, bison, opossum, raccoons, birds, and many others.”
I’m completely in favor of good conditions and happy cows – who wouldn’t be? But even in the best conditions, microbiological contamination can happen – just as it happens in very happy homes with very content cooks. “Confinement cows” or “happy cows,” the only scientifically proven measure to reduce the risk of dangerous pathogens in milk is pasteurization.
5 sickened by raw milk in Washington
The Whatcom County Health Department announced Monday that five people were sickened by the the same campylobacter jejuni strain found in raw milk that was recalled last month from Pleasant Valley Dairy.
The dairy pulled that batch of milk from the shelves and has resumed its distribution of raw milk.
The health department said the dairy has changed its testing procedures to reduce the risk of releasing contaminated milk.
A table of raw milk outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf
Raw milk: it's all about the money
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
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.
Raw milk and sprouts sicken Santa
Or at least they did in this 2005 animation a couple of my former students, Christian and Heather, made up for a lab party.
Expect more video in the new year. Hope everyone enjoyed their day. Amy and I certainly did.
If Ron Paul can bring in $6 million in a weekend, can't iFSN?
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Milk -- kudos to a government-type explaining what they do
Terrence Philibeck, Director, Dairy Inspection Division Indiana State Board of Animal Health Indianapolis, writes to the Indianapolis Star in reference to Shari Rudasky's article ("Four ways to shop smart," Oct. 16)
Philibeck says that to tell consumers to check their dairy products for hormones is misleading. All milk contains naturally occurring hormones produced by lactating animals. Labeling as "hormone-free" reflects only the absence of synthetic hormones given to the cows, a practice that will be virtually eliminated by year-end as a result of new industry-imposed policies.
Second, to recommend consumers seek out antibiotic-free products is simply a marketing gimmick. All fluid milk is tested for the presence of antibiotics before it is processed. Milk that tests positive for antibiotic residues is discarded as unfit for human consumption. To recommend consumers seek out antibiotic-free-labeled milk is to imply that other products are somehow contaminated or unsafe, when in fact all dairy products must abide by this industry standard for safety.
As the state's regulatory agency for dairy products, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health has a compliance and education program to help producers avoid contamination of milk through the use of antibiotics in their herd. Producers who violate the antibiotic-negative requirement must complete a 10-point action plan with their herd veterinarian and are subject to fines for repeated occurrences. Our staff also works with dairy processors and cooperatives (the wholesalers) to verify that regular testing is done routinely and correctly to ensure the wholesomeness of our dairy supply.
How hard was that? It's rarely done. Instead, government and industry folks are usually content to make pronouncements about the ignorant masses, in meetings or sometimes in public. American culture is awash in food porn and hucksterism. It's up to those who manage risks to communicate with the public they serve. I wrote a book about it, Mad Cows and Mother's Milk. Kudos to Terrence Philibeck.
CBS confuses raw, probiotic
CBS News did a puff piece tonight on probiotics and somehow equated the beneficial bacteria in fermented products like yoghurt with the bacteria found in raw milk. I'm not sure salmonella, campylobacter, listeria and E. coli O157:H7 would count as probiotics.
I'm not sure the kids sickened in all the outbreaks linked to raw milk would think they got a load of beneficial bacteria.
Raw milk rally
Sally Fallon surfaced on Tuesday (Sept. 18/07) in Pennsylvania alongside state agriculture hearings on raw milk.
Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which she described to Lancaster Farming as the largest proponent of raw milk sales in the U.S., didn't actually testify at the hearings, but did speak at an associated rally, saying that she is against the use of permits when it comes to raw milk sales in any state, so long as the cows used to get the milk from are grassfed.
Why grassfed?
It is commonly but erroneously stated that grassfed cattle have little or no verotoxigenic E. coli like O157:H7. One such advocate, Nina Planck, wrote at the height of the fall 2006 E. coli O157:H7 spinach outbreak in the N.Y. Times that E. coli O157:H7,
"is not found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on their natural diet of grass, hay and other fibrous forage. … It's the infected manure from these grain-fed cattle that contaminates the groundwater and spreads the bacteria to produce, like spinach, growing on neighboring farms."
That's not just wrong, it's dangerous. 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.
As my colleague David Renter wrote in Sept. 2006,
"Cattle raised on diets of “grass, hay and other fibrous forage” do contain E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in their feces as do other animals including deer, sheep, goats, bison, opossum, raccoons, birds, and many others.
"Cattle diet can affect levels of E. coli O157:H7, but this is a complex issue that has been and continues to be studied by many scientists. To suggest switching cattle from grain to forage based on a small piece of the scientific evidence is inappropriate and irresponsible. Several pieces of evidence suggest that such a change would not eliminate and may even increase E. coli O157:H7 in cattle.
"The current spinach outbreak may be traced back to cattle manure, but there are many other potential sources. Simplistically attacking one facet of livestock production may be politically expedient, but instead provides a false sense of security and ignores the biological realities of E. coli O157:H7. In 1999, for example, 90 children were felled by E. coli O157:H7 at a fair in London, Ont. The source? A goat at a petting zoo, hardly an intensively farmed animal."
Fallon also told the rally it is the “constitutional right” of a farmer and their customer to enter into private contracts when it comes to raw milk sales and that the government has no right to intrude.
Sure. But government does have a responsibility to protect the vulnerable members of society -- especially children.
Show me the data: raw milk and raw cider are both dangerous
North Carolina state epidemiologist Jeffrey Engel, MD, told the Greensboro News Record today that,
"Raw milk is a product of animals, and as such, is much more likely than apple cider to be contaminated with animal pathogens that can make people sick."
Except animals, especially deer, love to hang out and crap in apple orchards,
Risk comparisons are risky in the absence of references.
Don't eat your make-up
Just in case you had any ideas about it, Dairy Foods Safety Victoria took the time to point out that cosmetic products should not be used for human consumption.
The advisory is for several cosmetic dairy products on the market in Australia that customers may be tempted to consume as food.
In the article, Anne Astin, CEO of DFSV, mentioned that these cosmetic products were not pasteurized. The sale of these products as food, therefore, would violate Australian law.
“Pasteurisation is important as it involves heating the dairy product to a high temperature for a short time which kills or inactivates all pathogens such as E.coli, Salmonella and Listeria," said Astin, also including that, "Pasteurisation has little effect on the flavour or nutritional value of the milk.” Way to sneak it in there, Astin.
iFSN believes that pasteurized milk is safer milk. And while we say you should consume your dairy products in whatever manner you'd like (provided you're not giving a dangerous product to your children), we ask that you not ingest your make-up. It just seems wrong.
This one tastes like the cow got into an onion patch
Two health advisories, a feature and charcoal. Just another Friday night for raw milk, which I told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a trend embraced by an affluent, food-obsessed culture.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said this evening that consumers who purchased raw milk from the Amos B. King dairy farm in Blain, Perry County, any time after Aug. 21, should discard it immediately due to the risk of campylobacterosis contamination.
Later this evening, the California Department of Food and Agriculture issued an order to Organic Pastures Dairy Company to withdraw from retail distribution Grade A raw cream manufactured at their facility in Fresno, due to detection of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria and ordered the company to stop producing raw cream for the retail market.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina Board of Agriculture unanimously voted today to require unpasteurized milk sold as pet food to be dyed a charcoal-gray color and labeled as not for human consumption.
Good thing too. As John Kessler of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today, at least one Atlanta store has raw milk in its dairy case. Cabbagetown Market, a funky grocer, stocks it right next to artisanal cheese and pullet eggs. Owner Lisa Hanson says she has gotten the go-ahead from Georgia Department of Agriculture to sell the milk, as it is labeled "not for human consumption."
Tell that to Suzanne Welander of Atlanta, who drinks the milk she buys there. "I like it for the quality," she enthuses. "It's a really creamy product and I enjoy knowing how it was raised."
Douglas Powell of Kansas State University said,
"If adults want to do it, fine," shrugs Powell, who publishes barfblog, which deals with food safety issues. "But the evidence is fairly clear in terms of links to illnesses from raw milk, and the arguments [touting its health benefits] are largely disingenuous. … Don't expose your kids to your dietary weirdness."
A table of raw-milk related outbreaks is available at:
http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=1&c=1&sc=1&id=384
I'll have a brown cow ... hold the charcoal
The North Carolina Board of Agriculture will consider a proposal Friday to require raw, unpasteurized milk, legally sold in the state as "pet food" (as in Dr. Evil saying, "lasers") be labeled "not for human consumption" and dyed charcoal.
The story says that the dying requirement is aimed at discouraging people who buy "pet milk" but use it on the dinner table or in making cheese.
The story also notes that a bill in the same N.C. legislature sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan would allow consumers to enter into contractual arrangements with farmers known as "cow shares" to get raw milk.
Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, was quoted as saying, "I can't imagine the government intruding into someone's refrigerator like this."
Unless it's spinach or lettuce or tomatoes or anything else making people poop and barf, then Democrats are the first to say the government needs to get into the refrigerator.
I credit mine to berries and beer
A couple of twists in the latest feature on the popularity of raw milk in this morning's Miami Herald.
"Raw milk is also popular among Libertarians, who believe the government does not have the right to regulate what they consume, and among evangelical Christians who adhere to The Maker's Diet, a Bible-based diet of unprocessed food."
The story also quotes Dennis Stoulfouz, a father of three who was raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and is now a Florida farmer with 20 cows, as saying about raw milk:
"I credit it to my energy, my stamina, my libido, my mental clarity.”
A tale of two drinks?
Dr. Suzanne Gibbons-Burgener, from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, was cited as telling the annual International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to Man held last week in Madison, Wisconsin that a random sampling of milk from 901 Wisconsin dairy farms, chosen to encompass small and large herds, producers of Grade A and B milk, and all five of the state's geographic regions, found that 76 per cent of the samples had detectable Coxiella burnetii DNA, and 5 per cent of the samples harbored Listeria monocytogenes.
Milk from larger herds and farms producing Grade A milk appeared to have a larger risk of having detectable C. burnetii, but no clear risk factors emerged to predict which farms were more likely to have L. monocytogenes in their milk. Both bacteria were broadly distributed geographically.
Kim White writes in a letter to the Owen Sound Sun Times in Ontario, Canada, that the real issue with raw milk is about the prevention of illness and not about freedom of choice, stating,
"Do not talk to me about what is or is not an issue of freedom to choose when 75 per cent of what is in the grocery store now contains genetically modified ingredients - without labelling, without warning. … Health Canada and the FDA, I'm afraid, exist to protect the industry they serve."
Roll over, Louis
In a press release that would leave Pasteur guffawing, Autumn Valley Farm of Worcester, N.Y. has declared that it will be resuming sales of raw milk.
Co-owner Lori McGrath was quoted as saying,
"… everyone understands that the state has to be pacified because the Agriculture Department is deathly afraid that any kind of an outbreak will hurt the commercial milk industry."
Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is bankrolling many of the state initiatives to promote raw milk was quoted as saying,
“Raw milk from small family-run farms is immediately refrigerated after milking and is typically sold within a day or two – the freshest milk you can find. I’m hoping that these unnecessary contamination alerts will stop with a little education at the state level.”
A call for education usually means propaganda. Louis Pasteur would be entertained to learn that dangerous microorganisms have political affiliations and avoid small family-run farms. As Brae and I have noted, outbreaks, usually involving children consuming raw milk, continue unabated.
Raw milk: Live free or die
That's the state slogan for New Hampshire, one which the raw milk foodies have adopted as a rallying cry, especially when confronted with cases of children sickened from raw milk.
But this is coming from the "vitriolic barfblog" as labeled by one advocate of all things raw.
Sure, we may be vitriolic but always point back to the microbial food safety issue and we can always cite the best available evidence.
Sally Squires of the Washington Post writes this morning that,
"From 1998 to 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tied 45 outbreaks of food-borne disease to raw milk or to cheese made with unpasteurized milk. More than 1,000 people became ill, 104 were hospitalized and two died, according to the CDC."
In July, scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported test results for raw milk collected from 861 farms in 21 states. Nearly a quarter contained bacteria linked to human illness, including 5 percent with listeria, 3 percent with salmonella and 4 percent with types of E. coli that can cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses. Less than 1 percent of samples had the most dangerous form of E. coli, 0157:H7.
"There are definitely measurable levels [of unhealthy bacteria] and they are probably more prevalent than what we are seeing," said Jeffrey Karns, a microbiologist at the USDA's Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory in Beltsville, who led the study."
That doesn't bother Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a District-based organization that has been leading the charge to make raw milk available to consumers.
"We're not talking about raw milk from a typical conventional dairy," she says. "That milk could pose a danger. But milk from cows fed on pastures actually have their own antimicrobial components that keep it safe."
"People say that small farms have happy cows that don't have pathogens," Karns says, but he adds that there is no evidence to support that contention.
To concur. Sally Fallon and the foundation she represents engage in scientific cherry picking, selectively citing science and ignoring the outbreak side of the equation. E. coli O157:H7 is a natural resident of approximately 10 per cent of all ruminants -- the spinach outbreak of 2006 should have put that notion that natural is by default, better, to rest.
Back in New Hampshire, raw milk advocates are vying for looser regulations on its sale to keep up with growing demand.
But as Brae Surgeoner and I have written,
"Raw milk producers want to afford consumers more options and choice is good. But as the 19th-century English utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill noted, absolute 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."
