The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking a lot of heat about its undercover investigation and court action against Pennsylvania Amish farmer Daniel Allgyer. The FDA’s number-two , Michael (Son of Monsanto) Taylor, was even asked about the matter at a corporate get-together, where he spouted the expected rhetoric about “doing our public health job” in connection with the legal assault, designed to prevent Allgyer from supplying a food club in Maryland with raw milk.
Michael Taylor of the FDABut Taylor made another interesting remark, noting that the campaign against Allgyer results from a “statutory directive” to the FDA. He presumably was referring to the FDA’s implementation in 1987 of the federal ban on interstate distribution and sale of raw milk (PHS law 1240.61), at the behest of a federal judge the previous year. The judge ruled on a consumer group’s suit, demanding that the FDA put an end to interstate sales of unpasteurized milk. At that time, at least one large producer, Alta Deena, was shipping raw milk from its home base in California to a number of neighboring states.
Now, in a response to the FDA’s brief filed last month arguing that the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund’s legal challenge to the agency’s ban of interstate distribution and sales of raw milk should be dismissed, the FTCLDF maintains that the judge’s 1986 decision ordering the ban was inappropriate on several counts. It notes that the FDA had, ironically, resisted efforts to push it into the interstate ban, and suggests the agency didn’t have the authority even under a judge’s order.
“Not only did the (1986 court decision) substitute its judgment for that of the FDA, it ordered FDA to institute an interstate ban on the sale of raw dairy products under the PHSA (Public Health Services Act) when there is no authority under the PHSA for FDA to regulate ‘interstate commerce.’ Thus, this reinforces the notion that (the court decision) is wrong and is an extreme case of judicial activism.”
The FTCLDF brief makes yet a further legal and Constitutional argument challenging the FDA’s effort to eliminate the availability of raw milk. The FTCLDF filed suit last year on behalf of five plaintiffs who were admittedly purchasing raw milk in states where it’s legal, and bringing it back to their home states, where such sales are illegal. The FDA has argued that such interstate transport of raw milk is illegal, but has said it has no immediate intention to enforce such a ban on individual consumers.
The FTCLDF argues that the FDA’s prohibition on interstate shipments of raw milk amounts to a “mandate that if dairy products are going to be purchased, those products must be pasteurized rather than fresh and unprocessed….”
The group argues further that it remains legal to consume raw milk in all fifty states, and that Congress has never via any laws governing the regulation of food and drugs granted the FDA the authority to prohibit the interstate shipment or sales of raw milk.
“FDA cannot prohibit citizens from consuming the foods of their choice when it is legal in all 50 states to consume raw milk…Because Congress cannot tell the citizens what dairy products they must consume, neither can the FDA. Thus, FDA exceeded its authority under the FDCA (Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act) and these rules are invalid…”
The ban on transporting raw milk across state lines is invalid, FTCLDF maintains, because “neither the FDCA nor the PHSA give FDA the authority (1) to completely ban citizens from traveling across state lines with legally purchased raw dairy products in their possession, or to mandate the consumption of pasteurized dairy products at the expense of raw dairy products; (2) to designate such legally purchased raw dairy products that are taken across State lines by Plaintiffs as an ‘illness’ or ‘communicable disease’ per se, or (3) to deem misbranded a product that is what it purports to be.”
Even if FDA did have the authority to interfere with raw milk in interstate commerce, “in this case, the raw milk is not being transported across state lines before it is sold. Only after the milk is sold is it taken across state lines, thus, it constitutes an intrastate sale that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the FDCA or the FDA.”
The FTCLDF brief also argues that, by trying to ban interstate shipments of raw milk under the Public Health Services Act, the agency is essentially treating the product as “a communicable disease.” Not very logical. “… a communicable disease is an illness, not an agricultural product that is sold or consumed. If FDA’s argument is accepted, then raw meat, raw chicken, raw eggs or raw produce could be considered a communicable disease.”
The FTCLDF brief concludes by arguing that banning raw milk from interstate shipment by consumers sets a dangerous precedent. “Our country was founded on the notion that we all have inherent, inalienable rights that the government cannot take away from us except by due process. ‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people’ as Abraham Lincoln said. If a person does not have the right to take raw dairy across state lines, what will be the next product that the government will prohibit its citizens from taking across state lines? Pets, pornography, alcohol, cigarettes, medicines, prescription drugs, live chickens, live cows, raw eggs, raw produce, raw herbs, uncooked meat, fresh fruit? When will it end?”
And FTCLDF asks the court to recognize the rapidly emerging food rights movement. “In this day and age many people, including Plaintiffs, are now eschewing and opting out of the industrial-sized, centralized, subsidized, government-sanctioned food production system. Instead, they are turning toward local farmers who are producing nutrient-dense foods that will restore their health. Although this national ‘food rights’ movement was probably not contemplated by the Founding Fathers, it should now be recognized by this Court as a component of Plaintiffs’ liberty interest in having access to the foods of their choice.”
The FDA has said there isn’t even a “plausible” Constitutional case that can be made for access to particular foods as a right. It’s now in a federal judge’s hands to decide whether the FTCLDF case is dismissed or moves forward.
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http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18866.cfm
Are they saying I do NOT have any rights to choose what I want to consume?
I constantly drive across state lines with raw milk. Whenever I go visiting, I bring my own milk. Sorry, I don't like the other kind. All this time I thought I was breaking the law and it wasn't even a real law!
Maybe I'll make me one of those signs for the car: Raw Milk Onboard.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/4-RAW-MILK-CATS/109576162445344#!/photo.php?fbid=153023584767268&set=pu.109576162445344&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/pages/4-RAW-MILK-CATS/109576162445344#!/photo.php?fbid=153083941427899&set=pu.109576162445344&type=1&theater
Hey Mike Taylor…we need the press and media attention and you could really do it for us. Your FDA is an award winning cluster F…… food killing organization, why not do the big cluster so Americans can really really see you and the FDA for what you really are ???? Greedy dead food lovers and golden parachute performers for your revolving door FOOD INC retirement bosses.
Hey Mike Taylor….Their team captain is a Dr. of Vet medicine, a PHD from UC Davis and is a State of CA certified epidemiologist. She loves raw milk and guzzles it as she sets world records. Be prepared to do battle with her…she knows all about the lies that UC Davis told to get the "raw almond" labeling USDA action passed in 2008. She knows all the dirty secrets.
Hey Mike Taylor….why not come drink some raw milk with us on Saturday June 18th in San Diego? Everyone will be getting free raw milk and "I love raw milk" bumper stickers.
Hey Mike Taylor….I know you love RBST, you are an ex attorney for Monsanto and you love destruction of organics by GMO seeds….but hey that should not stop you from drinking to a four woman cycling team that is racing for health and a better world…
Hey Mike Taylor… how is your Karma Point count?
We must learn how to take the wheels off the Marler $$$$$ billion dollar money machine. Give him no more targets. None.
RAWMI.
Access to raw milk is certainly an issue of liberty, as David's blog states above.
Regarding contaminated sprouts: "only known 100% effective method is irradiation, and sprout lovers do not seem to be enthusiastic about this. "
If you tell the people a lie often enough, they will believe it. Why does it appear no one is looking at the processing? Researching how the food is grown, the growing environment, what exactly is put on the food/environment and the processing plant and the packaging/shipping and sitting in a store…..
Sounds like we are becoming the Divided States of America when it comes to food. No where is their a suggestion of raw sprouts standards or a food safety plan for them???!!! Prohibition seems to be the only solution.
How uncreative and totalitarian.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/sprouts-e-coli-risk_b_875103.html?view=print
Addendum: Treating Sprouts
Several readers have offered treatments for sprouts ranging from chlorine, to vinegar, to hydrogen peroxide, to ozone. And other readers ask them for the recipe.
My science sources tell me there is now way to eliminate contamination. These methods may reduce contamination, but they cannot eliminate it because much of it is actually within the fiber of the sprouts, not just on the surface. The only known 100% effective method is irradiation, and sprout lovers do not seem to be enthusiastic about this. Nor have I seen double blind taste tests about the impact of irradiation on flavor and texture.
Now think about this: If there was an effective treatment, don't you think the growers would be using it? They are facing extinction. Don't you think they would be doing everything possible?
I like the warning label that Bill Marler is suggesting. http://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/is-it-time-for-a-warning-on-sprouts/
I think the same one should be used front and center of the bottle on raw milk.
More of an "advisory statement" is appropriate so everyone knows what they are eating. Do you want to warn people about eggs and beef and apples and lettuce….. I do not think so. You would be warning people not to eat a whole food….warning people not to eat the food you should be eating.
A fair advisory statement that talks about natural risks of eating unprocessed whole foods and the unknown immune status of each consumer… is a fair context. A big ugly government warning is not pro-nutritional or pro health.
It would become the seal of WHOLEFOOD integrity. Consumers in CA will not buy our RAW MILK unless they see the FDA one drop of this raw milk will kill you statement. With out that statement, they do not believe it is raw. Consumers trust us…not the FDA. Educated conscious consumers know the data and they know what drugs, GMO, dead foods, FDA policy and pharma have done to America and its citizens.
A good "advisory statement" is a seal of wholeness…in this same vein, it is critical that GMO foods are labeled as well. So if Marler wants raw foods labeled that is fine….but we also get GMO and Cloned labeling at the same time.
How can people dollar vote and protect their bodies from freak foods if it is not labeled.
The answer to that is to "know you farmer" and buy direct…but not everyone can do this.
Marler single-handedly managed to drive a very sharp wedge between our family dairy farmers and our public sector unions, thus helping to elect the Koch-financed Scott Walker into office. It is unfortunate, because the folks who are losing the most as a result of the Walker administration's war on the public sector labor unions are average school teachers. The goons at upper management of DATCP food safety are largey unaffected by the severe austerity measures which the Walker Administration is imposing.
We can thank Bill Marler for this. Marler is just an obsequious self-righteous jerk. I still can't believe that he blocked me from his blog, for merely pointing out how Mike Taylor is really just a Monsanto crony. What a tool!!
Very nice post….thank you for this.
You have just pointed directly to why so many people just want their food direct from a farmer. Unpsrayed by BUDNIP or god knows what else.
Bill Anderson ( we have two Bills here now a days )
Could not agree more. Now how do we take the wheels of this Monsatan FDA CAFO PMO NCIMS…. Consumer and Cow and Market and Soil and Farmer Killer?
I really look forward to RAWMI and opening up the organization and the positive and broad impact it will have on all of us. This will reduce dramatically the target profile for Marler and his $600 million dollar food sterilization and farmer eating shark.
In a recent dream, I thought that perhaps Bill Marler would join RAWMI and endorse our risk reduction and raw milk production standards….then I woke up. We will see if food safety is the goal or whether it is the further production and greed based protectionism of GMO, irradiated, Cloned, Mike Taylor friendly diabetes, asthma and immune system creating dead fake foods.
We will see…
RAWMI….will rock their world and feed ours.
"it is the others and you know they are there and more will come chasing the $. Sometimes I do not know why I even bother trying to convince people to think before they drink raw milk. I really should just shut the fuck up and let them get sick think how many farms I could own in the US better than a bank foreclosure."
Marler's agenda revealed. He is not interested in food safety. He is interested in the almighty dollar and taking people's farms.
What a slimy scumbag!!
RAWMI is the answer to Bill Marler, Mike Taylor, and FDA Monsanto cronyism.
Ig Vella has passed away. He was a giant in the artisan cheese industry, and he hails from Mark's neck of the woods. Here is a touching memoir to Ig:
http://gordonzola.net/2011/06/13/ignazio-vella-1928-2011/
Thank you everyone…
Bless you all. . .
May Liberty and Freedom Prevail. . .
Cynthia Lee Rose
NC Plaintiff
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/opinion/07kristof.html
Geesh, I've been looking at buying a home in NC….. Bill A. Sorry for your loss.
CP: I reiterate–Why does it appear no one is looking at the processing? Researching how the food is grown, the growing environment, what exactly is put on the food/environment and the processing plant and the packaging/shipping and sitting in a store….. Radiating, adding more chemicals, etc is NOT the answer. The whole picture needs to be investigated. I feel warning labels should be on all processed foods, etc. Most people have no clue about the added chemicals to the foods they consume. Blind trust is dangerous.
for 12 years before he became a lawyer, George Wool was on the Commercial Crime squad of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He told me "we had enough evidence to put a third of the law firms in Canada, on trial" … meaning = the Mounties could prove how contributions to political parties were funnelled through law firms, so the identities of the actual donor were shielded by "solicitor -client priviledge". Not that that the fruits of all that work ever saw the light of a Court room!!
Point being : when the time was right, the politician would be reminded of that contribution ; in BC, we have a few comical examples of high-level people being caught with brown paper bags full of raw cash … but there's more than one way to convey a bribe
things are so bad now that when one of them gets caught, they're shameless. It's just 'another day at the office' …. earlier this year, a Special Prosecutor had to admit that his own law firm had contributed to the campaign of the politician whom he'd been commissioned to investigate for offences allegedly committed during the election !
it would be worthwhile for someone in that state, to go down the list of lobbyists for the dairy cartel, for whom Marler Clark has ever acted
It was interesting to see that the beef industry changed after Jack in the Box changed by requiring different standards for its beef. Industry wanted to feed Jack in the Box and not starve, so they changed. The last thing to change was the USDA and the FDA.
The same goes for raw milk and our fights today.
When the standards change, the pain will stop and then the government will follow much later….the FDA being the last to change.
Lets take our lessons from recent history. This is how it works. Change occurs because of infliction of pain… Marler is a professional pain inflicter….that is what he does. It also so happens that he benefits tremendously from pain infliction.
Our job is to institute standards so that the pain will stop being inflicted and then feed the people and bring them better health.
Marler serves a weird and twisted purpose in our weird and twisted blame game and irresponsibly addicted Jamie Oliver blocking asthmatic, diabetic and obese society.
The only problem with this societal plan and structure is that the Marler pain infliction tends to destroy the very food that will save us all from immune depression and obesity and Asthma and diabetes.
So…being the smart and visionary leaders that we are….we must starve the machine that gives pain by denial of opportunity and in doing so we get better at what we do….and rebuild the immunity and health of our citizens and at the same time rebuild American Ag and our local markets.
Marler can only happen if we feed him with opportunity.
RAWMI….Guys….RAWMI.
When Jack in the Box created new better and higher standards
( after their crisis ) the meat industry complied and the USDA and FDA followed in last place.
Same here. We are so much smarter and farther ahead of the game….our eyes are open and we are not lead arround by our wallets. We are driven by our hearts and the passion of a profound dedication for a healthier next generation.
That is the All American Game…it is how it works. We had better become excellent at it and win. No second place for my grand kids or yours.
Mark
every eco-system has niches for bottomfeeders whose role is to process the detrius. Mr Marler et al. in that Cult of the Black Robe are merely 'doing their job' in this degenerate business milieu
Vancouver has businesses which drive around, scooping up the dog excrement from people's yards. I suggest that, henceforth in this forum, the ambulance-chaser in question shall be referred-to as Wm Marler, "Esquire" & "purfinder at law"
I think we can call public health in the US an unmitigated disaster. I would say the 3 pilliars of public health, chlorination, pastuerization and vaccination need to be reevaluated. Obviously, eating sterile food and beating up our immune systems with vaccines and drugs is not working very well. And yet, no where do I see any questioning of these pilliars of public health by our highly educated public health leaders. In fact, it looks like the plan is to double down and demand irradiation of our foods. WOW!!!
We need to bang the drum loudly that this program does not work!!!
Wayne Craig
However, I have met some public health people who are are opposed to fluoridation of water and skeptical of vaccines. There are some (they are a minority) who are actually working on increasing access to nutrient-dense foods in low-income communities.
I think the issue is that the orders come from the top, and they are not to be questioned… folllow the $$$.
Their bosses are happy, the Administration's happy, the public's happy… at least they all have proof that SOMETHING is being done to earn their salaries. And the public's been safely distracted once again from the fact that the worst problems need cleaning up a thousand times more because THOSE problems are impossible.
THOSE problems are too big, there are too many political influences at work, and besides, I'm beginning to believe that various agencies, government and otherwise, don't want people to get/stay well–too many industries would fail that depend on the money that sick people generate.
And so, FDA henchmen and their underlings in various states will always concentrate on the easy pickings: Raw almonds, raw milk, and every now and then the most egregious of the bigger offenders like Decosta (who still get a far easier ride when something goes wrong).
When Food Kills
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/opinion/12kristof.html
How do we get to the President and Michele?
If they truly knew the impact of Mike Taylor policies and antibiotics, I am sure that they would act to make some changes. They want votes in 2012….going to the people with a new vision of health and saving lives through responsible prevention and change of agricultural policy would be an easy policy winner. Ag does not vote, people do. People are sick of dying.
I just do not think that Obama coming from the city and being a smoker has a real clue about health. He knows that his wife advocates for good organic food for kids and she advocates for exercise and Barack plays basketball and that is all good but….I do not think that the president takes health as a serious national security threat. He does not connect the dots.
Why is it that our grass roots movement does not have access to the president???
If the president knew that the people would benefit from Mike Taylors head on a plate he would put it on a plate….he just does not have a clue and believes what his handlers tell him.
We must educate the president.
How??? I think we need to get on his radar screen. Any ideas? We have tons of great examples.
With respect to the article you posted.
In other words, its not the food that is killing a growing number of people but rather a misapplication of the germ theory whereby weve adopted an overall antagonistic approach to dealing with organisms.
If we think we can solve our problems by continuing our battle with organisms and further alienating them in our day to day life then we have a great deal more to learn. My money is on the organism.
Its imperative that we drop the chemical onslaught, restrict and or eliminate antibiotic use in medicine including livestock production and its application in GMO technology, adopt healthy eating habits etc., and above all we need to lighten up by being less evasive and welcoming exposure.
Ken Conrad
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/14/formaldehyde_added_to_known_carcinogens_list
Formaldehyde Added to Known Carcinogens List Despite Lobbying by Koch Brothers, Chemical Industry
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has added formaldehyde to a list of known carcinogens, despite years of lobbying by the chemical industry. The conservative billionaire Koch brothers have led the lobbying effort against labeling formaldehyde as a carcinogen, and Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, is one of the countrys top producers of formaldehyde.
Gee, I got banned from his blog, too… but that was because I called him an "ambulance chaser" in my posting, so I guess I deserved it. 🙂
Everyone is so upset about Michael Taylor's Monsanto links. But this is endemic; it is not an isolated issue. The corporate-regulator "revolving door" is destroying democracy. If the same thing happened in some third-world country, we'd call it "corruption!" But here, it's called "freedom of association."
Perhaps someone like Ron Paul could get some legislation through that would ban regulators from having any connection with whom they regulate. But no, that would wipe out the entire lobbyist-driven system.