How many Americans do you think have become ill in an average year from raw milk contamination, be it E.coli 0157:H7 or campylocacter or salmonella or listeria? I’m not talking about deaths, I’m talking about illnesses.
Try 54. And if you take out the average of five per year who became sick from imported Mexican cheese, the number shrinks to 49.
Those are the numbers that come out when you average official government statistics showing 1,791 total illnesses from raw dairy, and 1,609 raw-milk illnesses over 33 years between 1973 and 2005.
Pete Kennedy, a lawyer for the Weston A. Price Foundation who provides legal counsel to farmers arrested or harassed for producing raw milk, has come up with these numbers. He filed a request last year with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under the Freedom of Information Act, for data on illnesses stemming from both raw milk and pasteurized milk.
It took the government ten months to come up with the data, certified and “under penalty of perjury.” And even these figures may be high, since the government in its cover letter hedges, saying, “Food vehicles identified are not necessarily confirmed with statistical or epidemiological evidence.”
As for pasteurized milk, there are something on the order of 600 illnesses on average per year, more than ten times the average for raw milk.
Kennedy points out that the number of illnesses from raw milk and pasteurized milk “is still miniscule compared to the overall numbers” of people made ill in an average year by food borne illness, which the CDC estimates at 76 million. Of course, the government isn’t policing pasteurized milk like it is policing raw milk.
All this seems to be consistent with data Mary McGonigle-Martin has uncovered suggesting that E.coli from raw milk is way overblown.
“Some hundreds of thousands of people are consuming raw milk,” Kennedy says. “It seems like the government’s campaign against raw milk is an overreaction and is motivated by something other than science and health.” What else could possibly be motivating the government?
Well, consider the old adage "Follow the money." If it becomes popularly known that raw milk from pasture-fed cows is generally safe, more nutritious and better-tasting than milk from confinement operations then it threatens retail channels, milk processors, milk haulers and government officials who have spent their careers building, overseeing and regulating the commercial milk industry. They probably also sincerely believe in the health dangers in drinking raw milk, but ironically it’s only milk from the confinement, grain-feeding system they helped to create and protect that’s dangerous.
I’m reminded of something the author Daniel Quinn has said in his books, that the government and collective society is very vigilant, reacts strongly and violently against direct threats and attacks. However, government and society has very little defense against abandonment. They can rant and wail, issue threatening press releases and dire warnings, but if people simply decide to "walk away" there is virtually nothing that can be done about it. And when it comes down to it, that is really what we are talking about here – abandoning the current system of industrialized food and centralized control in favor of traditional food and localized control. Opposing raw milk consumption may be a reflex action on the part of state and federal agencies, but "unconsciously" they may realize that the real threat is that enough people may walk away from the current system to make it unviable. Every one of us who buys directly from a local farmer is one more person not shopping in the supermarket and walking away from their control.
Don Neeper
Im sorry to report there is no update. Of course noone called or e-mailed me back. I then contacted S.T.O.P. by e-mail and I havent heard back from them either. I was hoping that this organization could help me navigate my way through the CDCs system.
There is a piece of information I think I left out. Mark McAfee, the owner of Organic Pastures dairy, is the one who confirmed that all the kids had the same blueprint. I spoke to him on the phone last April. He was given this information from either someone who works for the California Health Department or the CDC. He also told me there was a child in Northern California, during the same time frame, which also tested positive for the same blueprint, as well as a child in another state. He seemed perplexed about the child out of state. This makes sense to me because he sells his milk as pet food to people in other states.
Im curious as to why the child in Northern California was not listed on the FDAs slide show. Chris, Lauren and two children from San Diego County were the only children discussed.
For anyone that is interested in reading about the history of e-coli 0157:H7 and the medical establishments challenge in dealing with this mysterious illness causing HUS, I found an article in the New York Times from 1998. You can read it on http://www.ericsecho.org/looking.htm . Its titled, Looking for One of the Worlds Most Dangerous Toxin Bacteria. Scroll down to the bottom of the home page and the article is on the left.
I also found an abstract from a journal article dated June 2000 that supports information that other serotypes of e-coli also have mutated (I dont know if this is the correct scientific terminology) and also emit the Shiga toxin.
HOW DOES ESCHERICHIA COLI O157:H7 TESTING IN MEAT COMPARE WITH WHAT WE ARE SEEING CLINICALLY?
June 2000
Journal of Food Protection
Vol. 63, No. 6, pp. 819 – 821
David W. K. Acheson
Abstract
Escherichia coli O157:H7 is but one of a group of Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) that cause both intestinal disease such as bloody and nonbloody diarrhea and serious complications like hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
While E.coli O157: H7 is the most renowned STEC, over 200 different types of STEC have been documented in meat and animals, at least 60 of which have been linked with human disease. A number of studies have suggested that non-O157 STEC are associated with clinical disease, and non-O157 STEC are present in the food supply. Non-O157 STEC, such as O111 have caused large outbreaks and HUS in the United States and other countries.
The current policy in the United States is to examine ground beef for O157:H7 only, but restricting the focus to O157 will miss other important human STEC pathogens.
I’m sure those 54 felt pretty bad. I used to be extremely susceptible to food borne illness. I’ve gotten sick more times than I can remember. Several times it was so severe that I really wanted to die. This was usually from eating out at restaurants or occasionally from eating eggs or left-over chicken.
Recently, I had a bout with salmonella. Luckily, my immune system is a lot better (cholesterol above 200 and I eat lots of fermented foods). So, instead of spending hours in the bathroom in agony, I just felt a little rumble in my stomach.
"And if you are getting these numbers from the Weston Price Foundation, Im sure they are not accurate."
I find that comment interesting. The numbers are from the CDC. I too question their accuracy – I’m sure the CDC numbers are inflated. I’ve seen government documents that state something like "10 people got ill from raw milk at the state fair" and then later in the same document "only 6 people consumed the raw milk". So, either the true number was six or, more likely, the number of people getting sick from raw milk was zero.
I do think the following statement is a little misguided:
"As for pasteurized milk, there are something on the order of 600 illnesses on average per year, more than ten times the average for raw milk."
It doesn’t appear to take in consideration the number of consumers. I’m sure the number of pasteurized milk drinkers out number the raw milk drinkers by 10-fold. I would like to see the percentage. Would it be something like: .5% of of people get sick from raw milk and .05% of people get sick from pasteurized milk?
Anyway, the bottom line is…
76 million people get food borne illness each year and only 59 people get sick from raw dairy products. Out of all food borne illnesses, only .000007% are a result of raw dairy products. So that means, 99.999993% of food borne illnesses are caused by other foods besides raw dairy.
Could you image if they tried to ban uncooked eggs and uncooked chicken? "I’m sorry, we no longer carry eggs and chicken, you can only eat Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffins," said the grocery store clerk. According to the CDC stats: Each year, there are 40,000 cases of salmonellosis and 600 of those people die.
People have talked to me about making butter, sour cream (by leaving milk out on the back of the wood stove), and of course drinking raw milk.
A lot of them did start pasteurizing on their own. One guy last week talked about buying a "pasteurization kit" because his father just got nervous about raw milk. He said they never had any problems with the milk, his father just wanted security.
Most of them talk about the taste and quality of the milk that they have never found again, but a few like my dad’s girlfriend would have to be forced to ever drink raw milk as they can’t abide the taste. Or the memories associated with it? I think some of these farm kids didn’t enjoy eating only canned vegetables, canned meat, the same vegetables year afer year, having to work in the gardens all summer, and more milk than they ever wanted to drink.
But none of them ever had trouble with the milk, they don’t recall any of their friends or neighbors being sick, they do recall pressure to pasteurize but no real reason why.
It is a time and a memory that is dying out – these early farming stories. If you were farming in the 50s even you’d be over 70 now. I’ve enjoyed hearing their memories, and cetainly most have enjoyed having a shared experience they didn’t expect – the wonderful experience of raw pure milk and making butter and cheese at home.
We need to hear the stories of how normal farming used to be, and the common sense life that included your own milk cow and self sufficiency. It has become a lost art, slowly being revised.And that includes why some people loved it, and some just hated it.
I really enjoyed your post.
My father-in-law grew up on a farm in Croswell, Michigan. Last year, when Richard Hebron (Family Farms’ Coop) got pulled over by the State Police, I relayed the story to my father-in-law. He was amazed at the story and shared it with some of his buddies. One of them had worked for the government as an inspector (or something related to dairy) and he was flabbergasted that anyone would be so crazy to drink raw milk. Ironically, the inspector grew up on a farm enjoying fresh (raw) milk. I’ve asked my father-in-law about any dairy related illneses and he never heard of anyone getting sick when he was growing up.
At one point in my life, every day when I got out of bed, my body ached like as if I had the flu. I had major blood sugar issues, it wasn’t uncommon to test my blood sugar and the meter would indicate "seek immediate emergency medical attention" (under 20). My cholesterol level was only 130. I used to have to eat 10,000 calories per day to maintain a weight of 130lbs at 6ft tall. At that point in time, I was probably getting some type of food related illness several times per year. I remember two or three times where I was in real bad shape. I endured like this for years.
Anyway, the biggest thing that helped turn my life around was one single acupressure treatment to spleen meridian point on my ankle. It caused a euphoric rush that was almost unbearable. I started absorbing nutrients, my blood sugar average went from 40 to about 100, my cholesterol went from 130 to 200, and I gained 60lbs in 3 months. (then I realized I didn’t need 10,000 calories a day anymore).
I finally felt great.
But, I still had issues with getting food sickness. They weren’t as bad, but I was still very sensitive/susceptible. I’m like a canary when it comes to food pathogens. Everyone who eats with me is fine, but I’m usually the only one that gets hit. And if they get hit, I get hit harder.
I’ve been following the Weston A Price way of eating for about seven years. I think that has helped, but more recently, I’ve been more focused on eating foods that are rich in probiotics. Primarily kefir and cultured veggies. I’m pretty confident that this way of eating reduced the ill effects of food borne illness. About a year ago, I got sick from deli sandwich. It wasn’t too bad, but it was a little bit rough. Since about March, I’ve been eating more fermented foods. And about a month ago, I got food borne illness. However, this time I wasn’t sick – I just had small pains in my stomach and I took some bentonite clay and continued on with my day – no problems.
Bottom line: I’m pretty conviced that if I eat a lot of good bugs, then the bad bugs won’t bother me too much.
Sorry for the rambling message – I hope I answered your question.
I wrote a small review of The Probiotic Revolution on my blog. It’s a pretty good book – written by a mainstream dude. Here’s a quote from the author:
"I’ve spent the past twenty years studying the immune system. New scientific developments have led me to reevaluate what I learned in school – and pay more attention to the ideas of Ilya Mechnikov. It’s now clear that the number one job of the immune system is not to combat germs. Rather, the purpose of the immune system is to allow us to coexist with the microbes in and around us. That means tolerating the harmless ones, as well as fighting those that pose a risk."
http://blog.corganic.com/2007/06/book-review-probiotic-revolution.html
Enjoy!
Probiotics may protect against food poisoning
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=75107