Health officials crack down on unpasteurized milk

[KarenJ]

Health Officials Crack Down On Unpasteurized Milk (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080611/ap_on_re_us/raw_milk_crackdown_2)



By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press WriterWed Jun 11, 5:25 PM ET

Dairy owner Mark McAfee started selling raw milk in 2000, marketing it to customers who believe it contains beneficial microbes that treat everything from asthma to autism.

The unpasteurized milk swiftly caught on as part of the growing natural food movement. But the Food and Drug Administration considers McAfee a snake oil salesman and recently launched an investigation into whether his dairy illegally shipped raw milk across state lines. The agency even tried to recruit one of his employees to secretly record conversations with him.

The case against McAfee is part of a crackdown on raw milk by government health officials who are concerned about the spread of food-borne illnesses. Lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to keep unpasteurized milk out of reach, even as demand for the niche product grows.

McAfee, who was among the first in California to sell raw milk on a large scale, brushed off the investigation: "When you're a pioneer, you have to expect to take a few arrows."

Twenty-two states prohibit sales of raw milk for human consumption, and the rest allow it within their borders. The FDA bans cross-border sales.

In Pennsylvania, local officials recently busted two dairies unlawfully selling milk straight from the cow.

And in Maryland, health officials issued an emergency ban late last year on "cow-sharing" agreements, claiming they were aimed at skirting a ban on raw milk sales.

"Raw milk should not be consumed by anyone for any reason," said John Sheehan, head of the FDA's dairy office. "It is an inherently dangerous product."

But shutting down sales is tricky because the federal government has largely let states regulate the raw milk industry. The result is a hodgepodge of laws that confuse consumers, dairy farmers and regulators alike.

McAfee said he expects the FDA's criminal probe to be dropped without charges in a deal that will require him to guarantee his interstate shipments are for use only as pet food. The FDA declined to comment.

Raw milk proponents insist they are under siege by state and federal regulators intent on snuffing out the industry.

The popularity of raw milk is fueled by consumers' concerns about the chemicals and hormones used in traditional dairy farming, and a growing interest in unprocessed, organic foods.

Devotees of raw milk ascribe to it almost mythical healing powers. They feed it to babies, believing it strengthens the immune system and staves off digestive troubles. The heat used in pasteurization, they say, kills healthy natural proteins and enzymes.

"It's a magic food," said Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates consumption of natural foods.

The FDA insists pasteurization destroys harmful bacteria without significantly changing milk's nutritional value. The process also extends its shelf life.

Nevertheless, some consumers have formed cooperatives to support dairy farmers who offer raw milk. They also join "cow-sharing" programs in which farmers take care of cows that are "leased" by consumers.

Food safety officials say raw milk has sickened hundreds of people with salmonella, E. coli and other bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,000 people fell ill from raw milk between 1998 and 2005. Two died.

The FDA ban on cross-border sales of raw milk led to its criminal investigation of Organic Pastures, a Fresno dairy owned by McAfee that is California's largest raw milk supplier.

The agency ordered two of McAfee's employees to testify before a grand jury and offered to pay one of them to surreptitiously record her conversations with McAfee, according to the worker.

"The main issue was selling our products outside the state of California," said dairy worker Amanda Hall, who refused to wear the wire. The two workers' grand jury appearances were canceled last month.

Even if McAfee avoids criminal charges, he still faces lawsuits filed by the families of five children who claim his raw milk made them seriously ill.

He denies the allegations and said testing at his dairy did not detect the strain of E. coli that sickened some of the children.

McAfee also is challenging a new California law requiring lower bacteria levels in raw milk. He fears the change will put him out of business. A judge in San Benito County last month ruled for the state, but McAfee appealed the decision on Thursday. Also, a state senator plans to introduce a bill to repeal the law.

Whole Foods Co. lobbied for a law that ensure raw milk dairies can stay in business.

"It is a growing piece of our business," said Walter Robb, the company's co-president. "We want to protect consumer choice."

He and other raw milk proponents argue that the FDA should spend its time working on other agricultural practices that jeopardize food safety, such as the way large farms confine animals.

But parents like Melissa Herzog strongly disagree.

Herzog, whose 10-year-old daughter spent two months in the hospital after her kidneys failed because of E. coli poisoning, is one of the families suing Organic Pastures over the 2006 outbreak that health officials determined was probably caused by raw milk from the dairy.

"I don't have anything good to say about raw milk," she said. "It was a horrible experience."

[KarenJ]

"It's a magic food," said Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates consumption of natural foods.

In Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions, she contends that all of the bacterial outbreaks occurred with Pasteurized milk. Have there been any outbreaks that occurred with unpasteurized milk? Proven outbreaks?

I feel bad for Mark McAfee. Don't know, maybe the dude is indeed a "snake oil salesman", but if he's providing a product that the consumer wants then what is the harm?
I guess the harm lies with people who want to sue him for some real or imagined illness that they want to blame on the milk. They had a choice.

[LukeA]

In Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions, she contends that all of the bacterial outbreaks occurred with Pasteurized milk. Have there been any outbreaks that occurred with unpasteurized milk? Proven outbreaks?

.

I have no idea of if it is common or not, but I know that when I was 6 years old I nearly died from ecoli contaminated milk from unpasturized milk from a "clean" dairy.
Not a risk I would take personally, especially with children or the elderly.

[paleodude]

Gee, almost as many people sickened by raw milk as pasteurized cheese.

[Nancy LC]

I suspect a lot more people eat pasteurized cheese than raw milk. If you looked at percentages it might be more meaningful.

[rightnow]

Raw milk is inherently dangerous. Imagine how humanity survived the last several thousand years drinking the stuff.

GMO produce with zero testing to see how humans truly do respond to proteins never before seen on planet earth is just fine, but "milk from the cow" is a horror (gasp).

Spinach and tomatoes have been offing people too. Shit happens, related to every kind of food. My friend's family drank raw milk their entire lives and the only side effect seems to be they grew up healthy.

[ReginaW]

Raw milk is inherently dangerous. Imagine how humanity survived the last several thousand years drinking the stuff.

GMO produce with zero testing to see how humans truly do respond to proteins never before seen on planet earth is just fine, but "milk from the cow" is a horror (gasp).

Spinach and tomatoes have been offing people too. Shit happens, related to every kind of food. My friend's family drank raw milk their entire lives and the only side effect seems to be they grew up healthy.

DH was raised on mostly raw milk and dairy as a kid and when he and his family lived in France (and traveled throughout Europe) for a year, it was all that was available too, way back when!

When I was a kid we had a small dairy farm (a couple dozen cows) up the road and sometimes the farmer let us kids, who played in his fields occassionally, manually milk some of his cows - drinking some straight from the cow didn't kill (or make ill) any of us because the first thing we had to do before milking was to properly clean the udder and surrounding areas of the cow! My mom would buy cream, butter and cheese directly from that farmer too when it was available (milk couldn't be sold directly from the farm?)

Here in MO we can get raw milk, but despite our experience as kids, we're hesitant to give it to DS....for one reason - we don't know the farmer personally and the dairy it's produced at isn't close enough to go inspect and get to know the farmer and the conditions he maintains. I'm sure it's a clean farm - but without actually seeing and knowing, I hesitate. I do buy some now and then though....DH prefers it and I'll use it in cooking. For DS, his whole milk is non-homogenized and from a producer that is organic and grass-fed....and the milk is pasturized using aslow low-heat VAT method instead of UHT or fast, high-heat methods. DS does get raw cheese though and loves it!

[KvonM]

Raw milk is inherently dangerous. Imagine how humanity survived the last several thousand years drinking the stuff.

thank you. i was going to post something along the lines of "apparently no human in the history of the world ever possibly drank milk before louis pasteur showed up."

my parents used to be able to get unpasteurized cream from a local cheese factory. the stuff literally did not go bad... ever. even after being left in a hot car for several hours in the middle of july. it actually had its own cycle... it went from sweet cream (that needed no sugar at all when whipped) to sour cream to something resembling philadelphia cream cheese, but that took a couple of months in the fridge to get that far. none of us ever got sick. in fact, the worst thing that ever happened with that cream was that my mom spent over a year trying to tweak a death-by-pecan pie recipe and get it to come out right. it finally dawned on her that the recipe, while calling for heavy cream, meant store-bought commercially available heavy cream, not the insanely thick and delicious stuff she was using.

[Nancy LC]

I guess if people want to risk the food poisoning then they should be allowed to use the raw milk. It gets a little dicier though when they're giving it to babies. If that kid gets food poisoning and dies how is it any different from the vegans that lost their daughter to their health practices?

[rightnow]

Well that's like saying, if I feed my kid taco bell and the tomatoes kill her, it was my bizarre food choice that was the problem.

There is not a food in existence that does not have issues. I have found live worms in candy bars. I know people who have found pieces of rodents and major roaches in all kinds of jarred foods. Hell, when I pull broccoli from my own garden I have a hard time getting all the little perfectly broccoli colored caterpillars off it before I toss the florets into a wok and see them waving wildly on the top for escape.

I don't think the real issue is health. I think the real issue is control. If the media and government tomorrow decided to focus on say, strawberry preserves, I am certain (from a friend who once toured a few plants making them) that they could find all kinds of instances of problems, and scare the public into never touching the stuff again.

[ruthla]

My biggest problem with the whole "raw milk is dangerous so don't sell it" line of thinking is this:

They also sell raw fish, poultry, meat, and eggs in every grocery store. Sure, it comes with a disclaimer on the packaging telling you to cook it thoroughly before eating, but they do sell it and people can use their own judgement about how much cooking or not cooking they're comfortable with. Why not stick a similar disclaimer on raw milk?

As for the child who drank raw milk and got E.Coli- I'm sorry she had such a miserable experience and I'm glad she's doing better now. But there's no proof that it's the milk that sickened her- it could have been from spinach or undercooked meat, or even dirt under her fingernails that she got into her mouth somehow.

[Nancy LC]

Well that's like saying, if I feed my kid taco bell and the tomatoes kill her, it was my bizarre food choice that was the problem.
Not at all. Pasteurization came about because of a common problem, people getting bad bacteria from milk that made them very sick or killed them. So it isn't a random, rare incident, it must've happened often enough that virtually every modern country adopted the practice. Everyone knows, or should know, there's a risk to drinking raw milk and you have to actively act outside of the common knowledge about milk to expose your kids to that risk.

Food poisoning from vegetables is pretty rare, even though it is getting a lot of press time. Probably still more likely to get hit by lightning.
===

A collection of anecdotes does not make data.

[KarenJ]

I guess if people want to risk the food poisoning then they should be allowed to use the raw milk. It gets a little dicier though when they're giving it to babies. If that kid gets food poisoning and dies how is it any different from the vegans that lost their daughter to their health practices?

I don't think that can be considered a logical analogy. The natural diet of babies is human breast milk, not cows milk and certainly not soy or vegetarian "milk".
Raw milk may harbor 'bad' bacteria, but it also has a full complement of good bacteria and enzymes, which is why it ages so well. If a kid gets food poisoning and dies from pasteurized milk (a more likely scenario), who's to blame for that?


From the Price website-
Both raw and pasteurized milk harbor bacteria but the bacteria in raw milk is the healthy bacteria of lactic-acid fermentation while the bacteria in pasteurized milk is the bacteria of spoilage. And the overall bacteria count of milk produced under clean conditions is much lower than that of pasteurized milk. Both raw and pasteurized milk contain E. coli, normally a benign microorganism. The most likely source of the new strains of virulent E. coli is genetically engineered soy, fed to cows in large commercial dairies. If there is any type of milk likely to harbor these virulent breeds, it is commercial pasteurized milk. (http://www.westonaprice.org/children/rawmilk.html)

There is a chart on that page vindicating raw milk.

I also don't drink raw milk, for the same reasons as Regina. If there was a clean farm nearby that could prove their cows have been tested free of tuberculosis and brucellosis... I'd do it.
I get pasture fed, VAT pasteurized, unhomogenized milk from Farmer's Creamery (http://www.farmersallnaturalcreamery.com/) , but it's very very expensive. It's pushing six bucks for a half gallon now.

Humans have been drinking raw milk for at least 9,000 years, but we've only been drinking pasteurized milk for around a hundred years.

[anyway...]

If you want to drink raw milk or not raw milk, I still think that should be up to the consumer, not the government.

In Florida you can only buy raw milk if you swear on your first born that it is only for pet consumption. I mean seriously, it's like you need to know the secret handshake and codeword to smuggle the stuff into your house to use it for yourself. And if you happen to accidentally mention that you are going to use it for human consumption, they're not allowed to sell it to you.

I have issues with the theory that if it's not good enough for me, it's still ok for my pets... but that aside, last I checked I was an adult with a mind capable of thinking for myself. Shouldn't I be allowed to make decisions regarding what I would or would not like to eat without the government shaking it's motherly finger at me? :nono:

On second thought, maybe I should listen. I mean, god knows they've done oh-so-well at nutrition recommendations in the past. :p

[ruthla]

In Florida you can only buy raw milk if you swear on your first born that it is only for pet consumption. I mean seriously, it's like you need to know the secret handshake and codeword to smuggle the stuff into your house to use it for yourself. And if you happen to accidentally mention that you are going to use it for human consumption, they're not allowed to sell it to you. That's so rediculous! If a poor person buys cat food for personal consumption (because it's cheaper per calorie than food sold to humans), and they let it slip that they're planning to eat it themselves, they might get looks of pity, but the cashier can still sell them the pet food!

[Lorisa]

"Raw milk should not be consumed by anyone for any reason," said John Sheehan, head of the FDA's dairy office. "It is an inherently dangerous product."

Funny, you never hear and FDA rep make that kind of blanket statement about any of the millions of questionable drugs they approve.

[amandawood]

[QUOTE=KarenJ

"Raw milk (...) is an inherently dangerous product."

[/QUOTE]

Try telling that to a suckling calf.

Raw milk from cows might not be good for humans if it has become impurified, but straight from the teat into the calf, it'll be fine!

"inherently dangerous"!!! Give me a break!!!

amanda

[GypsyClare]

I agree it's a control issue.

Right here on this thread we have several intelligent people with differing opinions. As with many other health issues, an argument can be made on both sides. It seems more respectful to let the raw milk be sold, with warning labels if necessary.

As for the argument that pasteurization must be a good idea because it's been widely adopted, let's not forget that low-fat has been widely adopted too.

I think we should all be able to make our own decisions about whether to consume things like raw milk. Let people have the information, but don't constrain farmers from selling their produce directly to consumers.

To me, two deaths in 7 years is a pretty low risk. To someone else it might be unacceptable, and I'm fine with letting them make that choice.

Personally, I don't believe there's any way to even tell if someone's e. coli infection came from the raw milk, unless everyone who drank from that batch got sick.

On the other hand, if raw milk is inherently dangerous, then maybe it would make more sense to simply avoid it altogether, pasteurized or not. Thank goodness we still have that choice! :lol:

[paleodude]

Tobacco has killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. But it is still legal to sell in all 50 states. I am sure raw milk will become legal in all 50 states just as soon as the government figures out how to tax the hell out of it and Meat Head (Rob Reiner) figures out he can use the money from the raw milk taxes to fund California’s First-Five Program.

All this from a government that recently started poisoning our water supply and telling us it’s good for our kid’s teeth!

[Nancy LC]

I don't think that can be considered a logical analogy. The natural diet of babies is human breast milk, not cows milk and certainly not soy or vegetarian "milk".
Most Mom's I know of don't step in cow pats and get poop on their udders. :p They actually have to do surgery on cows with droppy udders who end up stepping them. Ow! Breast life? :)

Cows have a completely different digestive system than humans do, what with 4 stomachs and all. I'm sure they've evolved some means to dealing with the sort of bacteria their young are likely to encounter -- provided we don't muck around with feeding them a diet of grains and hormones and all that.

I am all for people having the right to drink raw milk. But I think it's really silly to forget there is a reason why it is pasteurized and make magical claims about raw milk.

Lets remember the disease of the prior century that we don't see much of any longer, in part because we pasteurize milk: Some of the diseases that pasteurization can prevent are tuberculosis, diphtheria, polio, salmonella, strep throat, scarlet fever, and typhoid fever.

TB is making a comeback (http://www.google.com/search?q=deaths+from+unpasteurized+dairy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a), in part due to unpasteurized dairy.

[AJCole]

The milk is not squirted out with e.coli. The milk can become contaminated after leaving the cow. During the height of industrialization, 'swill dairies' became common. In these dairies, cows were being fed anything possible and being kept in horrible and cramped conditions. Raw milk is no more dangerous than any food which, due to poor modern practices, may come into contact with fecal matter. This includes all raw veggies and fruits which may be watered with contaminated water - very common problem. This also includes meat processed in plants with poor conditions. Modern agriculture is the problem, not raw milk. Most dairies that sell raw milk are hyper clean inorder to ensure no cross contamination. The Washington state case of a few years ago reeked of a set up. Someone was seen near the milk containers which caused the illness who did not belong on the farm. All further tests failed to find any contamination.

I cannot stress enough, e.coli is all about cross contamination with fecal matter. This is a problem for all foods, many of which are not pasteurized. Raw milk is a scape goat. Remember, the more technology envolved in producing dairy, the less small farmers are able to afford production. Enforced pasteurization favors big agribusiness. Follow the money.

[paleodude]

TB is making a comeback (http://www.google.com/search?q=deaths+from+unpasteurized+dairy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a), in part due to unpasteurized dairy.
This is one of the most absurd claims I have ever heard about tuberculosis, blaming it on raw milk..

(by the way Nancy LC, I am not saying you are absurd. I am saying the MSN article blaming raw milk for the resurgence of tuberculosis is absurd. Any food product made in garages and sheds in unsanitary conditions, and then sold out of the trunk of a car is most likely going to spread disease)

The increase in tuberculosis is due to out of control illegal immigration. My great grandparents came through Ellis Island and were subject to a medical exam the moment they stepped of the boat.

As for the statement in the article "the popular queso fresco cheese, is rising among Hispanic immigrants in Southern California."

Queso Fresco can be purchased in regular supermarkets in the San Diego area. (or throughout the Southwest). The supermarket and grocery store Queso Fresco are made from pasteurized milk. The name means “fresh cheese” meaning like Mozzarella it is not aged.

The cheese causing the spread of tuberculosis is a known as "bathtub" cheese because it is home made cheese sold on the streets of largely Hispanic communities. It is not just made of raw milk, but it is made in uninspected and unregulated home kitchens.

[LukeA]

Personally, I don't believe there's any way to even tell if someone's e. coli infection came from the raw milk, unless everyone who drank from that batch got sick.

:

Well in my situation when I did get ecoli, several people in my small community all got sick at the very same time, including the farmer and his entire family. I remember my parents thinking it was so shocking since by looking at it the dairy was "spotless".
I am on the fence, I do beleive people should be allowed to make up their own mind about what is safe to buy as long as their is a strong warning label, and I still beleive it is NOT safe for children, the elderly, or anyone with a compromised immune system.

[KarenJ]

The milk is not squirted out with e.coli. The milk can become contaminated after leaving the cow. During the height of industrialization, 'swill dairies' became common. In these dairies, cows were being fed anything possible and being kept in horrible and cramped conditions. Raw milk is no more dangerous than any food which, due to poor modern practices, may come into contact with fecal matter. This includes all raw veggies and fruits which may be watered with contaminated water - very common problem. This also includes meat processed in plants with poor conditions. Modern agriculture is the problem, not raw milk. Most dairies that sell raw milk are hyper clean inorder to ensure no cross contamination. The Washington state case of a few years ago reeked of a set up. Someone was seen near the milk containers which caused the illness who did not belong on the farm. All further tests failed to find any contamination.

I cannot stress enough, e.coli is all about cross contamination with fecal matter. This is a problem for all foods, many of which are not pasteurized. Raw milk is a scape goat. Remember, the more technology envolved in producing dairy, the less small farmers are able to afford production. Enforced pasteurization favors big agribusiness. Follow the money.

Bingo. Follow that money. And that was the very word that eluded me this morning: Scapegoat.
Fois Gras has also been a scapegoat, especially here in Chicagoland, where it was banned by the Mayor. People are furious about those poor ducks, yet regularly eat factory farmed, CAFO, inhumanely raised pigs, chickens, and beef. Nobody asks any questions about that, and not a peep about that from our little king mayor.

Also note that we wouldn't have the E. coli problem if the animals were being fed properly in the first place. :idea:

[paleodude]

When I was a kid I would eat raw ground meat all the time. I knew even then at 8 years old that raw pork was dangerous but no one ever mentioned raw hamburger.
So I can just imagine some where on the net 40 years from now someone will be writing on a message board that when they were a kid they ate raw tomatoes until they got so sick they nearly died. Are we really making progress? I am not referring to ancient history, I am talking about the time JFK was President.

[ReginaW]

When I was a kid I would eat raw ground meat all the time. I knew even then at 8 years old that raw pork was dangerous but no one ever mentioned raw hamburger.
So I can just imagine some where on the net 40 years from now someone will be writing on a message board that when they were a kid they ate raw tomatoes until they got so sick they nearly died. Are we really making progress? I am not referring to ancient history, I am talking about the time JFK was President.

I have fond memories of fresh from the butcher ground beef as a kid....!

[fujiwara]

Thank goodness the FDA is looking out for us! It's a great start, banning raw milk. Next thing they should go after is raw veggies! Ban those! You never know when the plant's vascular system will suck up some nasty runoff from a feedlot.

</sarcasm>