The case of Morningland Dairy in Missouri has been one of the more outrageous in The State’s continuing campaign against nutritionally-dense foods, especially such foods sold privately. Morningland has effectively been shuttered, ordered to destroy its entire 2010 inventory worth about $250,000, because of the supposed presence of the pathogen listeria monocytogenes seized by government agents in their June 30 raid–a highly unusual step.
Missouri farmer and food activist Doreen Hannes has been working with Morningland to make its case that the investigation into Morningland has been flawed and lacking in due process. Here, she reports on serious discrepancies in the paperwork associated with the seizure of Morningland’s cheese in the Rawesome raid, the government lab report identifying pathogens in its cheese, and invoices sent by the company to Rawesome. Her report indicates no one can be sure exactly what was tested, and thus calls into question the integrity of the entire testing protocol used to test products seized in the Rawesome raid. See if you agree.
by Doreen Hannes
The issues that brought a tiny Missouri farmstead cheese plant to the forefront in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s war on raw dairy continue to expand, and trouble. As a wise man once said, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” The intrigue doesn’t dissipate at all with the increase in information regarding Morningland Dairy. The tests, methods and procedures that began this tragedy are very questionable.
Let’s back up a step. On June 30, agents from five or six agencies raided Rawesome Food Club in the Venice section of Los Angeles. They covered the security cameras after about a minute, and proceeded to spend several hours rummaging through the place and confiscating product–about $11,000 worth, according to Rawesome. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took a bunch of stuff, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture took another bunch of stuff, leaving lists of seized items.
All the seized products appear to have been sent for testing to the CDFA. (I say “appear to” because no one has formally said anything, but the report of contamination of Morningland Dairy cheese came from CDFA.)
Part of the test report from the California Department of Food and Agriculture reporting on pathogens in Morningland Dairy’s cheese. The test results (part of the sheet is presented here) given to Morningland by the CDFA show reports for two types of cheese attributed to Morningland Dairy—‘raw milk Colby hot pepper” and “raw milk garlic”. (Remember these, I’m going to test you on them later.) The scientific information on these reports is heavily redacted and lack the detail that would have been required to pass a college course on Biology….at a reputable school, anyway.
The first thing that strikes one as extremely odd about the lab test report is that it fails to cite the name of the company in the product description. Secondly, there are no batch numbers for the cheese. These indicate the production date of food and help isolate potential problem areas. Thirdly, while they cite two types of cheese, there are two photocopies of the same one-pound block of Morningland Dairy Garlic Colby (this is yet a third type in addition to the two cited previously) showing its weight as .87 lb.
Then there are the key results: “L. monocytogenes detected” and ‘staph aur. detected”. Because of the oddities–the lack of batch numbers, failure to identify the manufacturer and the missing photograph of “Morningland Hot Pepper Colby”, I asked Denise Dixon of Morningland for the invoices of Rawesome’s purchases from Morningland prior to the June raid.
Discrepancies
The invoices indicate that Rawesome (invoiced to James Stewart) purchased cheese in October and November of 2009, and May and June of 2010. The invoices reveal Rawesome purchased Morningland Dairy Hot Pepper Colby in ½ pound blocks, but there was no picture of this cheese with the CDFA lab report. The majority of cheese purchased by Rawesome from Morningland Dairy was goat cheese, which runs under Morningland’s Ozark Hills label. All cheeses invoiced to Rawesome were in ½ pound packages, and Morningland had sold no “Morningland Dairy Garlic Colby” to Rawesome at all. So where did this one-pound block of Garlic Colby in the CDFA picture come from?
After finding these anomalies, Denise Dixon contacted the CDFA for more information on the tests conducted of Morningland Dairy or Ozark Hills products seized from Rawesome. She contacted Dr. Stephen Beam, the head of its dairy division, via email, and was told that only two samples of Morningland products were taken and that no samples of Ozark Hills (Morningland Dairy’s Goat cheese line) were collected. So, they sampled a type of cheese that was never sold to Rawesome (Morningland Dairy Garlic) and had none of the most recent order of Ozark Hills goat cheese in their inventory at all. Hmm, says I. The most recent Morningland invoice to Rawesome was entirely Morningland’s Ozark Hills goat cheese.
Transparency?
Interestingly, when you go through the inventory of seized items written by the CDFA, there are six items (59, 75, 76, 78, 79 and 80) that fit Morningland Dairy’s cheese descriptions (none are identified by brand). The product that was tested by CDFA and never sold to Rawesome is listed twice and numbered as 59 and 80 in the CDFA inventory. It says underneath number 59’s description “gallic colby” and is followed by “5”. We don’t know what “5” actually means, but one would think it would be either a number of packages or a weight. Some of the seized products have a weight associated with their description and some do not. There are two other entries on the inventory by CDFA stating “Morningland Dairy”, but on both of those, “Morningland” is crossed out, and one of them (item 80) is the never-sold-to-Rawesome Garlic Colby. Next to that entry is written “54”. Again, we don’t know what the “54” means. 54 packages? 54 pounds? 54 ounces? 54 grams? Who knows? Those who should know, like Dr. Beam, aren’t telling.
The statement by Dr. Beam that there were no other samples of Morningland or Ozark Hills product collected by CDFA just doesn’t make sense. The FDA also seized product from Rawesome. Its report clearly states that it took “10 subs (16 oz) of Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheese-Mild Cheddar from Mountain View, MO.” Despite not knowing what “subs” are (yes, I know, the sandwiches, but this is just cheese!) and the fact that Morningland did not sell 16oz blocks of cheese to Rawesome; we can verify through the invoices that Rawesome purchased Morningland Dairy Mild Cheddar cheese. It could have been taken from Rawesome inventory…just not in 1 pound blocks. Evidently, the FDA’s USPHS (United States Public Health Service) is incriminating CDFA for not following the search warrant and failing to take representative samples of ALL dairy products for laboratory testing. Either that, or Doctor Beam and CDFA don’t know how to read labels.]
At best, the documentation here is terribly sloppy, and at worst, seriously inaccurate (perhaps a lawyer can tell if it might even be criminally so). Add to that the fact that all the legal proceedings—the issuance of the search warrant that allowed the seizure of the cheese and the issuance of the Missouri Milk Board’s order to destroy the cheese—have taken place in secret, and the fact that no illnesses have been attributed to Morningland cheese, one must question the motives of these agencies. How can there be any claim of due process when a business has been nearly shuttered and pushed to the brink of insolvency based on sloppy and inaccurate paperwork and entirely secret legal proceedings? Not to mention, the absence of any internal appeals procedure with the Missouri Milk Board.
Businesses should not be defamed and railroaded out of business by such sloppy procedures by government agencies. The results of the CDFA ‘investigation’ are seriously suspect; as such, they should be quarantined and subjected to a destruction order. They are the real threat to public health.
If you wish to help Morningland Dairy fight for their right to exist, please donate to them at the UnCheese Party site.
***
If you listen, you can already hear the drumbeat on behalf of banning all raw milk cheeses. The FDA’s sixty-day aging requirement has been in effect since 1949, with very few known illnesses.
In one report blaming a California producer of raw milk gouda, Bravo Cheese, for having sold tainted cheese that may have sickened 25 people, there is a quote from the Marler Clark law firm lawyer citing the Morningland case (and the case of Estrella Creamery in Washington, in which no one has become ill, either). As Mark McAfee points out in a comment following my previous post, Bravo appears to use raw milk produced by dairies that send their milk for pasteurization. Moreover, Bravo continues in business. In fact, it was handing out samples today at the farm in Fresno, McAfee reports.
And there’s this report about the FDA’s crackdown on raw cheese in the Northwest, in which David Acheseon, former top safety official at the agency, is quoted as saying there is “a grooundswell” of opposiotion growing against raw milk at the agency. Makes sense. If the people want it, FDA must fight it.
They were hard at work cleaning the creamery and do all the things cheese makers do….they were even taste testing cheese to the public. I had some myself…great tasting and delicious.
What I find very strange is this:
1. ) Bravo Raw Cheese ( made from raw milk produced under the CAFO PMO standards ) sickens perhaps 25 people across five states and they have no signs of recall or shut down at their store or plant….
2.) Morningland is shut down ( rather permanently ) and has made no one ill.
What a contrast. If I was in charge at Morningland, this would be the "CNN food" I would use to start a serious upheaval and revolt. If you want to survive and thrive in the raw milk or cheese business, I really do think that:
1st….You need to really work really hard not to be a target to begin with, and
2nd…You need to be an Organic Lemonade Maker.
Morningland has been given its ticket to national brand success and celebration with food for a great story of FDA oppression. Failure to utilize this basket of lemons is such a waste.
Mark
Now Mark, you know if it isn't RAW then it is OK by the govt entities to have the masses poisoned. We all know whose pocket they are in. Can't get more obvious than it is.
The FDA normally buries it's corruption better than this. Very revealing Food Inc incident. It is terrible than morningland has not seized on this opportunity
Wholefoods removed all Bravo products from it's shelves
One more note. Wholefoods has posted in the dairy case poster that describes nutritional density of dairy products. This poster is a disgrace and disservice to consumers. They rank soy at the top of the list. This is a reflection of the vegan madness that
Is pushing their agenda. The same agenda that hates raw milk and loves uht organic CAFO
milk
Wholefoods has lost it's namesake and true north
Mark
They found the E.coli 0157:H7 in the cheese.
cp
Seriously, I'm curious, cp. After reading this post about the lack of integrity in the previous case, you're just gonna come to the table with more "findings" and that gives you no pause whatsoever?
Hartmann Dairy in Silbey County, Minnesota has just been shut down, allegedly having made many people sick from campylobacter jejuni and also cryptosporidium parvum.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9J4UMJO0.htm
So, while researching this a bit, I ran across this site, Real Raw Milk Facts. Have you seen it before. I was stunned by the names of the people sitting on the working group.
http://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/about-us/
And, if I might weigh in on Morningland Dairy, why they haven't gone nuclear about what is happening to them…they just don't know how. Agreed that they should be going nuclear with this, but they just don't know how.
Sharon
Good post. There are no pro milkers, producers or anything to give a balanced perspective.
In fact Mary Martin and Amanda Rose both have incredible erections (I didn't want to use the more vulgar terminology) against Mark Mac Afee.
Hardly an impartial group and as such should be given no weight or credibility.
I saw on their site that it was copyright "Outbreak, Inc."
A quick Google search gets you to their site http://www.outbreakinc.com :
"OutBreak is a unique not-for-profit consulting company based on a radical notion: that the same lawyers who sue on behalf of victims of foodborne illness are best suited to help responsible companies with their food safety challenges.
"In 1998, the Marler Clark attorneys formed OutBreak, a not-for-profit consulting firm dedicated to training companies how to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks among their customers. …"
I also note that the top news item on Real Raw Milk Facts, "a website that addresses the complex issues surrounding raw milk science and policy," which was started by the non-profit consulting firm run by the Marler Clark law firm, is headlined "Marler Clark Attorney Colin Caywood Calls On Bravo Farms To Pay E. coli Victims Medical Bills." How helpful. Real radical, man.
There is a huge difference between 25 people across multiple states becoming ill all having a confirmed matching blueprint of E.coli 0157:H7 and finding this same blueprint in the cheese and what is going on with Rawsome and Morningland.
Would your logic apply to all outbreaks involvinghamburger, spinach, apple juice, & lettucewhere you have sick people with matching blueprints and a matching blueprint in the product that they all consumed? I guess the Jack-in-the-Box and 2006 spinach outbreak was bogus and the government was just out to ruin businesses.
cp
Question for Mark…you sound very passionate speaking against the use of PMO/CAFO tanker milk for making raw cheese and butter, but not long ago you defended using organic PMO/CAFO tanker milk for these products to meet consumer demand. You went on to explain in great detail why using this milk and selling under your label was legal. What made you change your mind and speak so intensely against this practice?
Bill Marler is a very smart man who learned long ago how to make a fortune by feeding off of casualties and victims of the dairy cartel. He has no interest whatsoever in the truth of the matter. I see him as a variant of the "ambulance chasers" and imagine that he has no more desire for food safety than ambulance chasers desire traffic safety.
"The Seatle Times" in the same Nov. 5 article reporting the Bravo incident also noted that Marler already had two clients wanting to file lawsuits.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013354939_costco06.html
Ive been called a lot of things, but having an erection is a first; interesting terminology to use with women. You must be threatened by strong, intelligent, outspoken women. Thank you for the compliment and Im honored to share this status with Amanda. I wonder which of us has the biggest erection?
Humor me about these incredible erections. What is your theory as to why we have them?
Mary
FTR, I drank raw milk back in the days when Gumpert was a cub reporter. I live on a homestead and produce most of my own food. That raw milk website does not bother me because I have seen those studies and can even put on my big girl pants and make sense of them. Sure, the site has a side they are promoting, but so what? There are no outright lies on the site and I can't say that about every raw milk site out there. If every raw milk site (pro and con) could stick to the facts and then add their spin, that would be a great day. I won't beat this dead horse.
Speaking of Mark McAfee, I come on here about once a month and ask for access to OPDC milk pool records. The records are not public, but as the owner of the business, Mark can open those records up to us and they would set the record straight on the outsourcing. Mark has refused to be transparent with his milk pool records. I ask him again to be transparent and forthwith on this issue. Buying 50 cows doesn't solve the issue of transparency.
I have asked Mark to change his rating at Cornucopia. If he's outsourcing any of his dairy line, he needs to indicate it. He definitely needs to indicate that his herd is not closed. He has had the chance to update his score every year since the ratings were published. He's outsourced and opened his herd throughout that time without a change in the score. What in the hell is wrong with indicating on their that the herd is not closed? If you can't be truthful with Kastel, we surely need access to the milk pool records.
I also asked Mark to direct us to the organic certifier of his actual cows. His pastures and processing plant are certified. I see no certification for the cows. Just post the certification, Mark, because the local rumors are really tiring. You must grow tired of it too.
So, Truly Concerned, if my concerns about consumer information make me anti-raw milk, then so be it. I would sure like to see a day when transparency becomes a value in this raw milk culture. Raw milk has a limited lifespan otherwise. Mark could go a long way today by getting that started by addressing in a direct way the three points above.
Amanda
Also, we would be wise to remember our sinister "friend" Monsanto, who creates Genetic Modifications using ecoli strains…then the cells in these products can break apart in you, since they are NOT stable, not being of nature, and could cause disease, or at least be detected if someone has a stomach ache….
All of that, IF the real people are really sick, or do they do a phone survey of raw milk drinkers once they have a list and ask if they have had any flu symptoms lately???/ How do they get these numbers when you never see these folks in the hospital, or talk to them on the news afterwards….typical of media sensationalism. Why do these ill people never appear on the reports?
Please, do not get me wrong. Something made these people really sick, but are we only looking at raw dairy, are we considering what else happened in their life? do we really have the right villain?
As to Morningland capitalizing on all of this egregious behavior…..they have to live through it and be able to get back into production before they can capitalize on it. Going to the link for the uncheese party and putting a few dollars into the donation pot will help. Yes, they are selling their cow milk into the commercial chain now, but they still have to make their mortgage payments, feed payments, insurance payments, and all the other bills without the ability to make cheese or sell the cheese they have. They have their assets seized, and it's tough to market when you can't sell anything.
Be blessed,
Finding two samples of bacteria with "matching blueprints"(indistinguishable PFGE profiles) is as easy as finding two people both with blue eyes and blonde hair.There are plenty of bacteria that will have indistinguishable PFGE profiles when only two restriction enzymes are used to distinguish them.
Of course these findings of "matching blueprints" are BOGUS.Just the choice of such prejudiced words as "matching DNA fingerprints or blueprints" to describe the findings should be a big enough clue that they are doing the tests to have evidence to support a conclusion that was already reached.
If you have any credible evidence to support the use of PFGE profiles to find "matching blueprints",I would like to see it .Otherwise, all of this bullshit about finding "matching blueprints" should be seen as just more of the same old lies that we have heard so many times before.
If you were a true friend of raw milk I would be more than happy to open my CDFA Milk Pool records and books to you. I have no idea what your true alliances are…. I am not stupid so I will not open my records to you.
If you own chickens you generally keep the foxes away from them.
You are correct, I apologize. Our USDA organic dairy certificate is not posted at our website. When we changed from COFA to OC certifiers we forgot to post our new certs. I will get them posted this week. Trust me we are certified or organic through and through.
OPDC does not purchase raw milk to make cheese. That is something we do not do. As far as purchasing organic raw milk to make butter…that is something we generally do not do but can if we want to. That is because Raw Butter does not contain lactose and only contains fat. These fats are highly bacteria limiting and will not allow the growth of pathogens like cheese or milk. This is part of state law for Class 4 manufacturing products. We are not buying raw milk to make raw butter and if we did I would place a "consumer advisory sticker" on the product just as described in our FAQ at our website.
Oh… and one more thing!!
When you see or here http://www.realmilkfacts.com…... think MARLER….think money…think sick people make money for MARLER and healthy people are useless ! ! ! !
Mark
"In fact Mary Martin and Amanda Rose both have incredible erections (I didn't want to use the more vulgar terminology) against Mark Mac Afee".
I understand and empathize with Mary….but Amanda that is a different and conflicted issue.
When a female fox has an "incredible erection"….I definitely do not want that kind of sly strange un-trustworthy animal screwing arround anywhere near my precious chickens.
Mark
Why did you go to the Dark Side?
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/pictures/OP_press_conference.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/blog/2008/04/the_elephant_in_the_raw_milk_r.html&usg=__859mZ0z5gS7KbcYJkoPC3oll0jI=&h=360&w=270&sz=98&hl=en&start=17&zoom=1&tbnid=6mXMsBa3dZVE9M:&tbnh=142&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3DOPDC%2Braw%2Bmilk%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D599%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C270&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=413&vpy=245&dur=266&hovh=259&hovw=194&tx=130&ty=192&ei=TinXTPbLEo–sAPl0diNCw&oei=SCnXTID6OoG0sAPV36GQCw&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:17&biw=1276&bih=599
I feel betrayed by your close friendship and then to see you become a tool of the Marler is disturbing.
Mark
LOL. It's all about context….
David brings up the topic that "pinocchio" has just been exposed as a big fat long nosed liar.
You immediately enter stage left and announce, "hey everyone, Pinocchio says you should buy
stock today!"
Great tip, there, CP! Kind of a George Constanza moment for you there…
George Costanza: Jerry, just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it.
It's all in the "lie" of the beholder. Do you really believe, hook line and sinker, that all the stuff posted here that you want to believe is the truth? If so, I have a bridge for sale…it's even erect (or will appear to be when sold to you).
miguel, you are a broken record of nonsense.
If miguel and Smy are representative of the thinking in the raw milk movement, you are all in trouble.
cp
You and your FDA (pulse net?) god and master need to recongnize that your
reputation is soiled. Is that too much beating around the bush here? I'll be more direct.
The FDA's word is $hit.
I'm ok with the fact that you thing I'm "ignorant" for being a government skeptic. (Let us count the ways they've earned that!)
From this angle, you look like a gullible pawn. 🙂
If you like the koolaid, you go ahead and drink. I'll drink the raw milk. You can think I'm a fool, and I'll think the same of you – I'm ok with that . But get off my effing toes – you are not going to tell me what to put inside the sovereign space that is inside my skin.
Get out of my body you friggin "concerned" parasite. Do you get that?
Food Fascists.
Let's stay on the task of educating people about raw milk and defending against female foxes with erections and dislike of Marler and the sterile food police
Do not let the sterile food idiots distract us
Mark
This most recent news about the Morningland Dairy ruffled me more than I initially realized.
CP's news about yet another recall has actually put the magnifying glass as to why.
To see what Morningland is going through based upon the bizarre and terrifying raid – on a non-store- and the slip shod "investigation" the followed is mind boggling to me.
More mind boggling is the realization that nobody in any of these agencies is stepping up and saying,
"mistakes were made and we're going to correct that".
That means they are fine with the status quo of this whole operation. Everything we're seeing here is apparently business as usual! That's more than scary. I'm enraged.
There is no more wondering, "gee, maybe I'm not being objective here." They truly cannot be trusted.
The CP's and Lykke's may be comfortable living subjected to such sloppy ineptitude from those we've entrusted to have some authority, but I'm near unglued about it.
Ken Conrad
My point was that this is not an objective blog (is that an oxymoron?). Like many blogs, this one is political and the stories are written to sway the reader to a particular point of view. There is an occasional nod to other viewpoints, but overall this is clearly a one-sided account of the raw milk wars with the objective to expand legal sales and reduce perceived over-zealous and unfair regulation of raw milk producers. That's my perception, anyway, after reading it for over 2 years. I post here off and on to share a different perspective. You can consider my anonymous comments as having no credibility, and skip them, or consider a different point of view. I don't care either way, but believe some readers like an exchange outside of the group think. Once the fascist comments and name calling take over, I usually exit (hint to those who want to sterilize the blog).
A recent example that showed the lack of objectivity here related to the Listeria testing. Someone pointed out that the blog reported "only a few cells detected" in Morningland cheese, when in reality there was no data on how many cells were detected. The only reason I can think that a non-microbiologist would make up a "fact" like that would be for political purposes: to sway readers to think the government made up or exaggerated the danger posed by the cheese in order to shut down a raw dairy producer. I don't think this is the case with Morningland, and believe there is a true danger with that cheese (if Morningland was my food facility, I'd throw away everything regardless of the government, figure out what went wrong, clean-up, and start over). On the other hand, there are examples of times when "our" side goes too far with their spin. For example, it is disingenuous to describe the dangers of legal raw milk using pathogen survey data collected from bulk tanks on CAFO dairies destined for pasteurization – given the outbreaks, that milk may not be any cleaner, but it is still wrong to suggest they are equivalent without having a legitimate study that compares the "two milks."
Perhaps instead of asking what the FDA would have to say about their markets, we should be wondering what the local people would have to say about FDA's pending approval of GM salmon?
"given the outbreaks, that milk may not be any cleaner, but it is still wrong to suggest they are equivalent without having a legitimate study that compares the "two milks."
The "Two Raw Milks" are described in detail in State of CA Law. Legitimate studies were done long ago.
What are you saying??? Are you saying that Raw Milk for Human consumption does not really exist and that the standards set into law do not exist??
The "Two Raw Milks in America" are deliniated and differentiated in my handout that I gave the NCIMS and tried to deliver to the FDA in 2008. The FDA refused to accept the data. Even though it is not my data it is State Law and PMO regulation.
http://www.organicpastures.com/pdfs/two-raw-milks.pdf
The Raw Milk for People can be easily made into PMO milk….but the reserse can not occur.
Clean raw milk can become filthy…but dirty raw milk can not become clean. The idea that pasteurization cleans milk is a farse….pastuerized milk is dead dirty milk.
Raw milk for human consumption is clean and living!!!
Food Fascists…..very appropriate label.
Mark
This is what I meant when I used the term erection:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hard-on
See definition 6.2 and disregard the homoerotic reference.
I should apologize to you for asking difficult questions.They are sincere attempts to understand your point of view.If we are going to make up our own minds concerning the relative risks between raw milk and pasteurized milk someone from the laboratory point of view should try to answer these questions.So far I have had no answers to my questions.
Here is one Question I have asked: "Why don't dairy farmers and veterinarians exposed to MAP-infected animals get a much higher incidence of CD(crohn's disease)? "
The answer I found from this research:
http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/1/1/15
"Occupational exposure to MAP is associated with raised antibody levels to MAP lysates [21]. An answer to the question consistent with these observations is that the extracellular classical ZN-positive phenotype of MAP excreted in trillions by heavily infected animals is not one to which humans are most susceptible. Exposure to this form of the organism may result in the acquisition of some natural immunity to disease. A good example of this happening as a result of purposeful exposure is the approximate 10 fold reduction in clinical Johne's disease achieved subsequently by vaccination of calves using conventional whole killed MAP vaccines with the organisms in this form [22]. The well described urban preponderance of CD may not be that townsfolk have an increased susceptibility to CD, rather that country folk have some natural protection. Passage of MAP through bovine macrophages in milk and cheese or through environmental protists would result in a switch to an intracellular phenotype of MAP likely to have an enhanced virulence for humans [23,24]"
Notice the distinction between extracellular forms of MAP and intracellular forms of MAP.My own interpretation of this information taken along with a careful reading of Lida Mattmanns book "Stealth Pathogens" is that the pasteurization process is responsible for converting the bacteria in milk from extracellular to the intracellular form.Notice what the report says:Exposure to the extracellular form of MAP produces some natural immunity to the disease while exposure to the intracellular form results in the disease.MAP with its cell wall intact(the extracellular form) is little problem for our immune systems.
"An answer to the question consistent with these observations is that the extracellular classical ZN-positive phenotype of MAP excreted in trillions by heavily infected animals is not one to which humans are most susceptible"
MAP without it's cell wall is " likely to have an enhanced virulence for humans."Pasteurization or heat shock is recognized as one way to change a microbe from it's extracellular form into it's intracellular form.
"Exposure to extracellular forms of these pathogens may confer some natural protection; exposure to intracellular forms which have passaged through milk macrophages or environmental protists may pose a greater threat to humans".
Here it says that the bacteria can be passed through the milk inside macrophages(white blood cells).So in their opinion the bacteria can but do not necessarily come from external sources.In fact as it says those intracellular bacteria "may pose a greater threat to humans".
Is there any reason that the pasteurization process would not convert many different "pathogens" to the intracellular form? This research by itself is very convincing to me that pasteurization increases the risk of all milk that is pasteurized because our immune system is adapted to protect us from extracellular bacteria but is susceptible to intracellular bacteria.
Lykke,You said:"I post here off and on to share a different perspective. You can consider my anonymous comments as having no credibility, and skip them, or consider a different point of view. I don't care either way, but believe some readers like an exchange outside of the group think"
This is an important question.Do you have a different perspective to share?Someone from your point of view needs to address this research.
I believe that Mark hit the nail on the head with his opening comment:
"If you want to survive and thrive in the raw milk or cheese business, I really do think that:
1st….You need to really work really hard not to be a target to begin with, and
2nd…You need to be an Organic Lemonade Maker."
The application of the second rule will necessarily vary widely according to the circumstances and depends on the ingenuity of the individual involved. The devil is in the details of the first rule, and I would like to offer my thoughts.
Recognize that the Milk Cartel is real, and operates much like any cartel. A big-city mafia is a good example of how cartels generally work. Their primary objective is to control the market, completely, and they can be quite ruthless while eliminating competition. The Milk Cartel has been around for a long time and they are very big and very powerful, but, much like the mafia, you wouldn't even know they exist unless you manage to cross into what they consider their territory. If you do that, then you will find one or more of the Milk Cartel's henchmen at your door: the FDA, the CDC, state milk boards and dairy regulators, health departments, etc.
I believe that the first evidence of Milk Cartel activity was the introduction of pasteurization laws and subsequent elimination of the majority of small, family-type dairy operations. Today, they control every aspect of the industry in the entire country. Similar operations exist in many other countries and globalization efforts are underway.
Fighting the Milk Cartel is very much a David and Goliath proposition and has little likelyhood of succuss. The Milk Cartel has already defined the rules of the game, and they're designed so that you play by their rules or you don't play at all.
This whole business of eliminating all the "bad" bacteria is a good example. It's a game that can't be won. The Milk Cartel controls the "science" that defines these micro-organisms as being malevolent and they control what statistics are gathered and how they are gathered, and how tests are defined and taken. Even if you do manage to find some way to eliminate such and such a micro-organism and still keep it raw, they'll just come up with some new pathogen and discover it in your dairy, or your milk or cheese. And they'll find people who have been sickened, maybe a little girl who has died, and they'll have everyone, including yourself, believing that some germ from your dairy is what did it.
You can't win their game. Raw milk is valuable because it is alive. The Milk Cartel has convinced everyone, even you, that the only safe milk is dead milk. You will never prove otherwise because the game is rigged. The only way to survive is to stay small. Forget your plans to go national. Forget making any real money. If you do, they'll notice you, and once they decide that you are a threat, you don't have a prayer.
1.Never wear a target and do absolutely everything possible to avoid having problems to begin with. Conditions and Safety Risk reduction….testing etc!!
2. Be a Great Lemonade Maker….and make lots of it when given lemons.
3. Do not get distracted by the rounds landing arround and near you…focus on one thing, delicious raw milk and your customers health and happiness.
A raw milk producer can become so distracted that he fails to focus on teaching and serving his consumer. Progress is only made when the consumers are taught one by one. Grass roots consumers are a critical enbodiment of the Sustainability essential to organic farm plan success.
You Teach…You Teach…You Teach!!
Mark
I find your assessment of the Crohns-Johns literature very compelling….borders on damn genius.
I have long thought that changes in MAP occurs under heat and processing while the natural forms were protective.
We see this all the time….more and more people come to OPDC to heal their Crohns using raw milk.
I feel a huge storm rising….the next ten years is going to yeald something really monumental. If congress can ever find their moral north…all heaven is going to break loose for Raw Milk producers and All Hell will open up and swallow CAFO PMO Policies and the FDA.
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=767213
When the presidents family or some influental congressman gets Crohns and they look into it and find the truth…watch out!!
Heads will roll. The FDA may even lose all control of food to the USDA and finnally the FDA NCIMS Cartel will be broken.
Mark
I am told that in the UK they simply raised their legal pasteurization temperature because of Johnes.
Keep in mind, certified raw milk is legal in the UK, outside of Scotland. The royal family are consumers of raw milk, and have been very big supporters of traditional UK farmhouse raw milk cheesemakers.
It is where they track pathogens that cause illnesses and how they know when there is an outbreak. All the stuff that miguel states isnt true.
cp
Teaching is one of the best methods of enlightening people. The govt keeps singing the same tired song and it appears that slowly people are not listening to them. This is from their own doing-too many screw ups/lies on their part. So they are striking harder and apparently becoming more sloppy. If those who are unjustly slammed and their business or the people are harmed by the govt. Don't they have legal recourse? Sue the hell out of the govt. entities. And at the same time, teach the masses just how all their processed foods are made…photos are truly worth a thousand words. Let them see how the pasteurized milk is processed…starting with the cows standing in their own excrement and any man made adjustments that are made to the milk…like how each jug has the same amount of fat in it, how they all taste the same,etc…Then go on to other foods…how about how processed cheeses are made? or how McDonalds chicken nuggets are made? I am amazed that people buy American processed cheese, don't they read the ingredients? Unhealthy.
There is strength in numbers and when you prove a fact: that fact has the potential to spread like wildfire by word of mouth. Voices do have power.
I don't think anyone here is unaware that there are multiple agencies and many levels of government (and industry) involved. It's also pretty well established that these agencies are talking to one another and working together.
The CDC is taking an active role in this agenda, right along with the FDA. Don't you remember this tidbit from a recent Scientific American article?
"If a child comes to a day care center with E. coli, it can be passed to your child, spread through feces in diapers."
Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=raw-milk-debate&page=2
Pretty revealing comment, since ALL feces is highly likely to contain E. coli, whether or not raw milk is consumed.
To top that, the fact that Tauxe talked about carelessness with diapers in day care as if it were an ordinary or trivial event is a completely incoherent rationale. Especially considering the source!
I did understand what you said: 25 real illnesses are in the news and they claim to have traceability.
My point is that in light of what just transpired with Rawsome and Morningland, only a sap could not have doubts about the traceability of the recent case, as well.
Of course, you made it clear that you believe David's post lacks credibility.
So it all seems crystal clear to me. You BELIEVE the government.
I heard you twice the first time.
Please, if you want to discuss, then stop repeating the same refrain "the government said it so it must be true. the government said it so it must be good".
Is there any neuron, anywhere in your brain that is firing a warning when a place like Rawsome (or a family farm ) gets raided with weapons drawn? Is that remotely peculiar to you? Do you think David et al faked the video, too?
Sylvia just reminded me of why I began drinking raw milk 18 years ago, while working for an accounting firm. This firm had a huge megadairy as one of its clients, and every year we had to audit the dairy, whereby all the firm's employees had to go to the dairy and count cow… it usually took all the employees, even secretaries and the higher echelon, to count every single cow, calf and bull, even dead ones present during the audit. That's how big the dairy was.
I was horrified by what I saw; it was truly disgusting… and I've always loved farms and cows. Worse, while I was there, the dairy described how milk was processed: all milk is first stripped of the butterfat, and the fat is then added back in precise amounts to achieve 1%, 2% or 4% levels. Of course, the skim, 1% and 2% milk weigh less than 4% milk does, so adjustments must be made to make those milks weigh the same as 4% does, so extra sugar and dried milk is added for extra body and flavor, as well as chalk and other ingredients to whiten milk because milk turns this weird blue color once the fat is removed; not to mention the homogenization and pasteurization process. After hearing all that, I was even more horrified and made a concerted effort to find a family farm with one or two cows that would sell me raw milk that they drank themselves.
I've never drunk pasteurized milk since. I'd rather go without than drink that bastardized stuff.
First, a disclaimer that my comment is not an endorsement of CAFOs or pasteurized milk (or for that matter GMO salmon, since some think that has something to do with this discussion).
The association between Crohn's disease and MAP (let alone pasteurized milk) is controversial and a thorough review of the research studies reveals conflicting results. There is absoultely nothing to suggest "proof" of a causal association between Crohn's and MAP (or pasteurized milk). If you held these studies up to the same "standards" you use for outbreak investigations, PulseNet papers, etc., you'd completely reject the Crohn-MAP theory. Instead, you speak of it like dogma. I can only conclude that you use science snippets as tools to promote your polititical agenda and ideologies. You have the right to do it – everyone else does from Big Ag to PETA, but I'm probably not the only one that sees behind the curtain regarding how you interpret and use scientific studies.
smy opin,
cp is correct about the nonsense being said in some comments here about PulseNet, even if his/her comment wasn't very politic or polite.
Also, person to person transmission of E. coli O157 is not a CDC-FDA conspiracy against raw milk. It is a biological fact (with much more proof than a Crohn's-MAP causal association). This can occur – and is most common – in a day care setting as you say. But, since human beings are not reservoirs of E. coli O157, the infection in our species is transient, and the primary source ultimately traces back to an animal, or a contaminated food product or water. Are you suggesting that raw milk is somehow magically exempt from the list of primary sources that can lead to secondary cases(s) in a day care, home or other setting? Like miguel, sounds like you are promoting a new raw milk political spin (The Raw Milk FDA/CDC Fecal-Oral Conspiracy Theory) that has little to do with science.
Final comment <smile>. A unique and maybe endearing quality of this blog is the surprise factor when clicking on links in the comments sections…seen everything from graphic rectal prolapses to 50 different ways to define a hard on in English. Who'd have known.
The statement that person-to-person transmission of E. coli 0157 is a biological fact with much proof makes me wonder about how such a thing could be proved. Do you imagine that scientists are able to photograph such an event taking place? What else would constitute proof? More than likely, any proof being offered in these matters is of the inferential, deductive variety and not really proof at all.
Lykke,
Do you mean that there is no reason to ask questions about observations about crohn's disease until the CDC decides that there is definitely a connection between crohn's and MAP?
Do we need proof of this connection before we are allowed to wonder why dairy farmers and vets with crohn's are nowhere to be found,And then see that urban people are experiencing an epidemic of this disease?It goes against all expectations.Let me make a prediction: The CDC will admit a "link" between MAP and crohn's when Hell freezes over,but everyone else who still questions authority will have not only figured it out,but they will also have figured out how to avoid getting crohn's.
Mary and Amanda I'm proud that you rose above it.
Miguel, thanks for that CD post. Lykke – welcome back – you're a tough one!
-Blair
We have posted our current USDA Dairy Organic Certs.
Thanks for the heads up on this.
http://www.organicpastures.com/pdfs/2011-7-27%20Organic%20Certifiers%20Certificate.pdf
One more thing…fools wait for science to prove things. The truly intellegent see things coming far in advance and avoid being poisoned by ignorance and prevent illness and disease through prevention and nutrition.
I saw the FDA in action at NCIMS when the discussions started looking at change of pasteurization temps and testing….the general question and comment was something like…."Should we test pasteurized milk for pathogens"… and the answer was…."Oh lord no…we might find some!!!" Then they realized I was in the room and they did not know what to do. The Raw spy had heard the comment ….too late.
The headline news in 2015 will read….
" Pastuerizers no longer work…Tens of thousands sickened by CAFO PMO Processed milk each year"….the FDA has known for years that Johnes is connected to MAP and Crohns. Supreme court to weight capital crime issues related. Congressional hearings will be held.
John Sheehan flees country after FBI warrant issued.
As a citizen…do not be a fool.
Mark
http://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/video—food-safety-attorney-bill-marler-explains-e-coli-o157h7-infection/
Goatmaid, if the above, is placed with photos and put forth to the masses, there'd be no doubt, that the dairy industry would lose many more consumers. Has there ever been a "study" of how people think their milk is produced? Or any other processed food?
Bet most think the cow saunters into a pristine dairy into the milking stanchion, where the teats are scrubbed free of bacteria and the milkers are attached and the 4 quads are milked with the milk running into the huge vat and then through the pasteurizer tubes before they are poured into bottles/jugs. And woohoo there is your milk. People haven't a clue, they are fed lies, partial truths, etc.
"The eggs, from Ohio Fresh Eggs, a Cal-Maine Foods supplier, tested positive last month in a routine Food & Drug Administration (FDA) test. Some of the eggs were processed and re-packaged by the Cal-Maine's Green Forest, Arkansas, facility between October 9 and 12, 2010, yet the Cal-Maine was only notified on November 5th."
They tested positive LAST MONTH and just notified Nov 5th? Oh my yes they are really looking out for the people.
"The CDC said about 200 cases of the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported weekly during June and July, four times the normal number of such occurrences.".
So 50 cases of egg induced salmonella a week is a "Normal occurrence"?
http://www.calmainefoods.com/recallinfo.pdf
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/09/the-return-of-fresh-milk-from-the-king-dairy.aspx
"When a female fox has an "incredible erection"….I definitely do not want that kind of sly strange un-trustworthy animal screwing arround anywhere near my precious chickens."
I am getting called "foxy" now by my people, thought I was going to get dates, and find out that Mark made this comment.
First, congratulations Mark, on your certification. I filed a complaint with the USDA back in January and it looks like you stepped up and got certified this summer, I assume as a result of my complaint. You can prove that I am wrong (and that you were certified) by posting the certification from your *products* from summer of 05 through summer of 10. I'd like to think I'm wrong here but the file is extremely thick and, frankly, if I cared, this fox would file a consumer fraud lawsuit.
Mark can push me a lot harder here, make it all about me, or he can clean it up and stop contributing to the demise of raw milk. Post the certifier and move on, Mark, or come back and harass me some more and I may just dump my file contents right onto Gumpert's blog.
I suggest that Mark clear all of the outsourcing nonsense up by flying out Bemis to review the milk pool records with me.
I see too that Mark has not cleared his Cornucopia record for five years now:
http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html
I've been asking Mark for over a year to fix it (Gumpert has been privy) and, yet, it's still there, making a monkey of the Cornucopia Institute.
Lies are a shaky foundation here, folks.
Amanda
aka, "Foxy"
P.S. As an historical tidbit, the organic claim actually originated in Maurice's territory, so perhaps he or his customers could come here and add some tidbits for the next issue of Gumperts book.