What makes raw milk different from raw spinach? In a comment following my previous post about the MarlerClark presentation, Lykke picks up on the suggestion by Bruce Clark that the spinach industry has been motivated by court suits to work extra hard to correct its problems. The implication, as Don Wittlinger and Syliva Gibson point out, is that raw dairies refuse to do the same thing.
Of course, we know that isn’t the case. Regulators have long argued that spinach and other produce growers need to clean up their act. Regulators never argue that raw dairies need to clean up their act. They only argue that raw dairies produce a dangerous product and access to raw milk should be restricted.
Rarely was that difference more clearly on display than in the raw milk symposium Tuesday sponsored by the International Association for Food Protection. The distinction was highlighted by Bruce Clark’s slide heading, “Here’s What ‘Real Milk’ Does”. Does he do the same heading when he markets at other symposia (and this was marketing, pure and simple) in other such cases involving E.coli 0157:H7, “Here’s What Raw Spinach Does”, “Here’s What Peanut Butter Does”, “Here’s What Taco Bell Tacos Do”, “Here’s What Sushi Does”? I don’t think so.
The fact is that when raw dairies seek cooperation with ag officials, with very few exceptions they get only the back of the regulatory hand. And individuals prominent in the public health arena are pushing ever harder for the use of brute force over cooperation. That became very clear in a presentation was by Caroline Smith DeWaal, Food Safety Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
She actually started out pretty rationally. The peanut butter contamination had hit mostly children, she said. And she noted, “Produce is four times more likely and seafood thirty times more likely to make people sick than dairy.”
So what’s the logical conclusion from that? Well, of course, you crack down on raw milk, right? What other logic is there?
Actually, the moment she said, “I drank raw milk when I was in college,” I knew logic was out the window. It’s amazing how many of the regulator/policy wonk types say they drank raw milk as kids, as if to say, “Yeah, I also did drag racing,” or “I mainlined heroin.”
For DeWaal, though, the whole thing led to near hysteria. She argued that “dairy outbreaks increased dramatically in 2005 and 2006, in large part due to a rise in outbreaks from unpasteurized dairy products.” Even accepting that her data are accurate (which is a stretch, since many of the reports blaming raw milk are questionable, not accepted by individuals who became sick), her solution was radical.
“Raw milk suppliers are operating outside the federal system” that bans interstate shipments of raw milk, she said. So? “We were all troubled to see the melamine outbreaks” in Chinese milk, she said. “What else is being added to the products?”
I’m not making this up. Here are the bullet points from her slide about “Intrastate shipment of raw milk”:
–“Raw milk suppliers are operating outside this state/federal system by selling their products locally, and never shipping them across state lines.
–“The absence of effective state oversight could lead to additional problems, like the addition of milk extenders in China that lead to the melamine tragedy.”
And I thought the Center for Science in the Public Interest was about what its name suggests. No, this kindly do-gooder wants to protect us consumers of raw milk from melamine and other additives being added to our raw milk. Try telling someone in that frame of mind about the beneficial probiotic qualities of raw milk as described by Miguel and Ken Conrad. I don’t think they are listening too closely.
Before I could fully absorb her melamine hysteria, someone during her Q&A asked if the government should require pasteurization of mother’s milk. Pumendu Vasavada, the University of Wisconsin microbiologist, actually took the question seriously: “I would not make a law requiring you to pasteurize it because how would you enforce it?” Of course, that’s the real question here.
No, the real question is this: How serious is John Sheehan, dairy czar at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and all his coolies and cohorts like DeWaal and Vasavada about denying us raw milk? The answer is that they remain more serious than ever. They are cooking up every excuse you can think of, along with excuses you haven’t thought of. Next on their agenda may well be an effort to obtain a federal ban on herdshares, which have expanded significantly as a distribution mechanism for raw milk. These arrogant paper shufflers will stop at nothing to deny us wholesome foods, and they are revving up for much more.
I still can’t believe CSPI (heavily supported by the soybean oil industry) even has any credibility left after their part in pushing trans fats on the nation (highly effectived but misleading campaigns to get tallow and coconut oil out of the food supply and replaced with vegetable oils), but I guess there are a lot of people who want to believe CSPI’s fiction.
Did I read something incorrectly?
Five more farmers commit suicide in Vadarbha by drinking Monsanto pesticide!
http://snardfarker.ning.com/video/five-more-farmers-commit
Please everyone send a message to the media and to your elected officials on Capitol Hill, that you would like the ban lifted on Interstate Transportation and Sale of Raw Milk. There is an easy way to voice your concern. An oped I wrote ran on OpEdNews.com. At the bottom of the article is a button where you can instantly send a message. Here is the link:
http://hartkeisonline.com/2009/02/19/vote-for-raw-milk-bill-on-opednewscom/
Thanks, and keep up the good work, David. Your blog is awesome!
Kimberly
HartkeIsOnline.com
a realfoodmedia.com blogger
I appreciate your inflammatory speech re: John Sheehan. But what is the point of it? If its just a matter of dumbness or bureaucratic bungling, aren’t we all going to just shake hands in the end, when raw milk is finally legalized? And if this is so, isn’t all the innuendo somewhat unsportsmanlike? Unless. Unless a part of the argument is missing. And perhaps it is missing. I downloaded the organizational chart of the Department of Health and Human Services and thought about John Sheehan’s bureaucratic position – for a long time. How is that this relatively minor regulatory official has successfully orchestrated a state by state jihad that is taking enormous legal risks with agriculture departments that are not normally trained in aggressive and invasive police actions? If I were his boss, I would see a public relations debacle of enormous proportions on the way.
Your illustration of the inconsistencies of federal policy re: spinach and sushi are clear. The spacious and tenuous junk science arguments are clear. The utterly underhanded, political rapaciousness, especially against Organic Pastures, is clear. But no far-sighted bureaucrat is making the slightest attempt at reining Sheehan in. All there is silence. Why is this? Are these enormous risks worth it? What is the payoff? If it is a foregone conclusion that this is not about public safety, then what is it about? The only possible explanation that I can think of – that would justify such enormous political risk taking by a mundane, low-level bureaucracy – is money from the milk industry. Yet why is no one looking for it? No secret memos to State Ag types that say: dont worry about the legal liabilities, we have you covered? If Sheehan is just the pivot man, who is leveraging him? Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins on this one? Where are the private investigators? Cant we afford one? Alternatively, can we ask the Attorney General to look in on this one, or is that too far fetched?
Paul Hubbard
Virginia Peninsula
–Raw milk suppliers are operating outside this state/federal system by selling their products locally, and never shipping them across state lines."
What local raw milk system??? What federal raw milk system???
This statement is a complete contradiction of the speakers concern that raw milk was being taken across state lines. Is this speaker just completely confused about her own thoughts. Please explain. Because if the raw milk dairies are selling locally and never shipping across state lines….what is her complaint and why did she make this statement??
John Sheehan, I will see you in Florida at the NCIMS conference in April. I have questions for you on the "pending CFR 1240.61 citizens petition" now lodged with the FDA. I will have other questions as well. Like the comment you make about raw milk and Russian Roulette. I have checked with the Russian Cosmonauts in Houston and their doctors will not let them to drink pasteurized or homogenized milk. I will also ask you why you do not change antibiotic treatment protocols and increase probiotic use and training for doctors. Another 245 people died today from MRSA. What will it take for you to get it? Perhaps, if your family member died from MRSA you would be shaken enough to get it and make change. Your FDA policies are directly connected to these deaths and the ever weakening American immune system and ever lengthening list of antibiotic resistant pathogens.
What is the FDA plan to make the American Immune system strong?
Raw milk is our plan…what is your plan and why do you abject to our plan? Dead food dies not work. You and the FDA have given the citizens no plan and nothing but 245 daily funerals and grief.
Please get your answers to these questions ready. I will ask you these questions in Florida.
Through my taxes, you receive a paycheck. You work for me.
John, I am actually a pretty nice guy. I promise to be considerate when we meet…..but I want answers.
All the best,
Mark McAfee
THE FRENCH CHEESE WARS
http://www.speigel.de/international/europe/0,1518,6090,00.html
They used they same fearmongering stories we hear in the USA raw milk is a health hazzard especially for the children and elderly, didnt work.
I very much doubt it (the money part).
This is what I think is going on: public health has taken a strong stance against consumption of unpasteurized dairy products for years due to pathogens – it is all over the literature and the CDC/FDA/WHO/health department websites, plus other organizations.
Given that, how do you tell a public health official to respond if they do not oppose legalization of raw dairy (or making laws less strict) then an outbreak occurs. A parent goes to the public health officials and the media saying: why did you allow this to happen? My child has permanent damage from raw milk and for years "you" said it was unsafe. Then you allowed [interstate shipment; legalization in X state, fill in the blank]. Public health bureaucrats are not going to change these laws when they think of this scenario: standing in front of the media and a photo like the one in David’s previous post – trying to explain why they backed down on regulation of raw milk.
http://www.bornagainamerican.org/index.html
I don’t expect the public health bureaucrats to change the laws.When enough people understand what the laws actually say,those bureaucrats will have to abide by actual laws rather than enforcing regulations that are not laws.I see that an awfull lot of people are waking up to the fact that the bureaucrats are breaking the law every day.We will obey the law and we will make sure that they do too.
Don – thanks for that article on the French Cheese Wars. Very uplifting and reassuring. Course in France, the government sides with the people, and traditional (proven) farming….
I am so baffled why the FDA is trying to kill us. Lykke’s argument holds water, but it goes beyond that; there is something more behind their heavy hand. I have looked for Conventional Dairy propaganda, and didn’t find anything very conspiratorial, or financially overwhelming (http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/national-milk-producers-federation-pac-nmpf-pac.asp?cycle=08), though I admit I did not follow the money thoroughly. I read their meeting minutes and sure they all back pasteurization, sure they are blind to fixing the source of the contamination, but nothing indicates they are aggressively trying to stomp out raw dairies. Many producers still drink their own raw milk, and send the rest to be pasteurized.
All the resistance seems to come from our regulatory agencies. They don’t want a dialogue, and they turn away from public meetings. They ignore science and logic. How can they legally do that?
It depresses me to conclude that the Food and Drug Administration is so corrupt that it manages Food to cater to Drugs. Hook us on MSG and mercury laden, brain-lesioning High Fructose Corn Syrup, denature the foods for long shelf life, fatten those cows on GMO corn and soy and pump them with hormones and antibiotics, then deliver the drugs that deliver more drugs. Yep, they got it figured out for their paying customers. Their jobs are secure.
How sick they are, how poorly they have served America.
Gwen – I got that song too. I liked it. Thanks for sharing. Do you think we the people can rise up and demand what Miguel suggests? Obey the Constitution? What a quaint idea…
-Blair
02/22/2009
SWALLOW PEANUTS BUT CHOKE ON RAW MILK? Tim Rowland
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=217233&format=print
You have denied that there is prima facie evidence for the money motive behind ‘Sheehan’s Jihad’ saying: "This is what I think is going on: public health has taken a strong stance against consumption of unpasteurized dairy products for years due to pathogens – it is all over the literature and the CDC/FDA/WHO/health department websites, plus other organizations." Because they are especially afraid of public recrimination for changing their position on raw milk? Yet what of the constantly reiterated inconsistency of the FDA’s neglect of other pathogen vectors – lunch meat, spinach, chicken etc. etc. etc. that David and Mark have constantly pointed out? And what of the deaths and injuries caused by the uniquely suited vector of pasteurized milk itself to which Mark has so aptly and often referred?
So we have the circumstantial setting:
1) the enormous policy inconsistencies towards the budding raw milk industry
2) Sheehan’s employment of junk science argumentation (which has been thoroughly debunked by Sally Fallon et al.)
3) the enormous political risk taking in near fascist police actions that should make any attorney general blush
The money isn’t coming from the dairy farmer who is working his butt off from morning to night to get his pittance from the dairy don conglomerate who cares nothing about individual (let alone family) dairy farmers as long as the milk can come out of the pasteurizer under the legal limit for bacteria counts. Smaller dairy farmers are put out of business because they won’t – perhaps even can’t ,cut corners in production.
There should be no classified memos coming in or out of Sheehan’s desk – right? Ask for them then and see if that isn’t a good place to start looking for the money trail. This raw milk thing has the potential to destabilize an enormously influential and powerful business. You truly don’t see that?
True concern for a viable, virulent pathogenic vector? that’s what’s motivating Sheehan’s Jihad? I’m not buying it.
Paul Hubbard
Virginia Peninsula
Follow the trail a little further and you will see who ,besides the government (through subsidies),is supporting the Mega dairy farms.It is the Pharmaceutical corporations. 70 percent of pharmaceuticals are used in livestock and Mega dairies use more per cow than the small dairies. It is a wise investment for them to put up the huge sums of money that it takes to set up one of these mega dairies.And when the operation proves to be difficult to make profitable,they prop it up with continuing support and price breaks on volume for their pharmaceuticals.
The pharmaceutical corps already own the FDA.
"FOOD IS POWER WE USE IT TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR
SOME MAY CALL IT BRIBERY. WE DO NOT APLOGIZE" Catherine Bertini former UN World Food Program Director and former USDA Assistant Ag. Sect. Note that she said " WE" SHE IS NOT ALONE! Her statement scares me much more than any money motivation and cannot be dismissed.
Who ever controls the food and currency of a nation controls the nation.
cp
http://www.bodyecology.com/introduction-body-ecology-products.php
cp
*Whole fat foods tend to be "filling" and perhaps reduce the desire to indulge in over-eating?*
Thats what I found too. But thats not the whole benefit. When I used to heavily support my local bakery, I had less appetite come mealtime – and when dinner wasnt at least sweet-tinged, I wasnt very interested in veggies. My wife prefers to get our vitamins and minerals direct from the cows milk and other non-manufactured foods.
And cp too, *High protein, good omega 3 fats and lots of healthy bacteria*
Soooo, breakfast is typically homemade sauerkraut and a one-skillet meal sliced apples – fried in butter – with a slice of bacon added (no nitrite or nitrate preservatives). When the apples are fairly well cooked, turn up the heat a little to finish cooking the bacon and the apples will slightly candy. Frying an egg (fresh-produced) beside the rest with the burner turned off completes the job. Absolutely YUM. Course this is washed down with milk or filmjolk (lacto-fermented milk similar to kefir but way better and way easier to make). Neither of us particularly desire toast nowadays.
Im pretty active and sometimes this carries me through til 2 or 3 PM. Last nights dinner was baked Delicata squash (its worth the trouble to find it), fried onions, fresh sausage, and more sauerkraut (served at almost every meal). Other meals often include something made from either beef, lamb or chicken stock (great source of minerals and gelatin).
* I admit I did not follow the money thoroughly*
Following the money is absolutely crucialeven if many / most of us dont have the ready ability to actually do it.
I understand that just four corporations control the VAST majority of milk sales in the USA. They alone, never mind big pharma and Monsanto, might have a strong vested interest in derailing the competition coming from raw milk dairies and farmers.
If one could make the assumption that large corporations with powerful self-interests, exert macro-control over the political process in general, plus have a revolving door arrangement with the regulatory agencies that regulate them, then Id say that its not much of a stretch to conclude that they can (and do) reach any level of government that they choose with near impunity.
Where there are just a few powerful corporate players, misdeeds are relatively easily orchestrated and covered up.
However true other causes of the milk wars may be, IMHO, this is one of the rock-bottom forces driving them.
I’m not sure John Sheehan is as much out on a limb as you would like to believe. In the last year, the governor of California went along with him (vetoing SB 201), as did a judge and hearing officer in New York state (on Meadowsweet Dairy LLC). And President Obama, when he was a senator, indicated support of the FDA on raw milk.
http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2008/12/11/how-does-the-president-elect-feel-about-raw-milk-lets-say-he.html
His own agency won criminal and civil indictments of the largest raw milk dairy in the country, and plea agreements.
Seemingly minor bureaucrats like Sheehan, if they know their trade well and have internalized the lessons of Machiavelli, can be extremely powerful, far beyond what executive organizers may have originally envisioned for their positions. I guess you have to give these individuals credit for excelling within their systems. It’s just too bad they hurt so many ordinary people in the process.
To Mark McAfee,
I agree, Caroline Smith DeWaal sounds very confused. I think what she was trying to say, or at least suggest, is that because small dairies like yours aren’t subject to federal regulation in their everyday operations, they are somehow avoiding the system. Of course, you are prohibited from making interstate sales, so there is no way to work within a federal system. And maybe that’s what DeWaal really wants: extension of the federal prohibition on interstate sales to encompass intrastate sales and herdshares. To her, any sale of raw milk amounts to "getting around" the system.
David Gumpert
Here a link on the subject of filmjolk from Sweden. Interesting, they warn against using raw milk when making filmojolk.
We do not recommend the use of Raw Milks as they can carry a heavy bacterial load that can compete with these Dairy Cultures, alter the taste and can cause illness to the user.
http://www.gemcultures.com:80/dairy_cultures.htm
cp
"Because they are especially afraid of public recrimination for changing their position on raw milk? Yet what of the constantly reiterated inconsistency of the FDA’s neglect of other pathogen vectors – lunch meat, spinach, chicken etc. etc. etc."
A speculation about your question…the interstate ban on raw milk occurred in 1986. This is just before the time the "picture" of foodborne disease outbreaks began to change. Historically, most outbreaks were linked to mistakes in preparation of foods, and tended to be local or limited to a specific event like bad potato salad at the church picnic, or undercooked chicken at a wedding reception. Raw milk outbreaks stood out because they involved a product that could be commercially pasteurized. Maybe in the minds of the regulators, a ban made sense.
Into the 1990s and since, there has been an explosion of "emerging" foodborne disease and outbreaks: E. coli O157:H7 in undercooked hambuger (Jack in the Box), Listeria in deli meats, E. coli and Salmonella in vegetables and fruits like fresh lettuce, spinach, sprouts, tomatoes, apple juice,etc., and more recently, Salmonella in peanut butter.
You are right – they have not banned any of these foods. IMHO, if the raw milk outbreaks only emerged recently like these other problems, I doubt a ban would happen. But, now the regulators are stuck with it (not saying they are not glad to be stuck with it, but they cannot easily back down on the ban and risk an outbreak with subsequent criticism by the public, media, lawmakers for removing the ban).
Today’s approach with these other possibly risky foods usually eaten without a heating step that would kill pathogens (vs. hamburger, for example), instead focus on consumer warnings, not bans…some examples
SPROUTS (E. COLI O157:H7 OR SALMONELLA)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5101a3.htm
In response to this outbreak, CDHS and the California Department of Education recommend that schools stop serving uncooked sprouts to young children. Public health officials should promote awareness of the role of raw sprout consumption in foodborne disease and consider package labeling as a method for improving consumer awareness.
COLD CUTS/SOFT CHEESES (LISTERIA)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4950a1.htm
Persons at high risk for listeriosis may choose to 1) avoid soft cheeses (i.e., feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, and Mexican-style cheese such as queso fresco). Hard cheeses, processed cheeses, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt need not be avoided; 2) cook leftover foods or ready-to-eat foods (e.g., hot dogs) until steaming hot; and 3) avoid foods from deli counters (e.g., prepared salads, meats, and cheeses) or thoroughly reheat cold cuts before eating.
UNPASTUERIZED APPLE JUICE (E. COLI O157:H7)
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/130/3/202
Until the safety of fresh fruit juices can be assured, persons who want to reduce their risk for E. coli O157:H7 infection and other enteric infections should consume only pasteurized juices. This is especially important for children and for other persons who are at increased risk for severe sequelae of E. coli O157:H7 infection.
RAW OYSTERS (VIBRIO VULNIFICUS)
http://seafoodhaccp.com/SeafoodData/BadBugBook/VULNIF.HTML
A previous study in north Florida indicated that less than 15% of high-risk patients were aware of the risks associated with raw oyster consumption (6). To increase awareness of risks for infection with this pathogen, the Florida HRS has issued press releases to inform the general public and has provided gastroenterologists in the state with clinical references and information for their patients with liver disease. California and Louisiana both require written consumer alerts regarding the risk of raw oyster consumption be visible where raw oysters are sold at retail food establishments. The Florida HRS also is working with other agencies in the state to establish labeling requirements for raw oysters that would inform consumers at all points of sale of the risk for serious illness for persons with liver disease or compromised immune systems who consume raw oysters. The wording of such labeling will be similar to the label already required by the Florida Department of Natural Resources for all wholesale shellstock and shucked products: "Consumer Information– There is a risk associated with consuming raw oysters or any raw animal protein. If you have chronic illness of the liver, stomach, or blood or have immune disorders, you are at a greater risk of serious illness from raw oysters and should eat oysters fully cooked. If unsure of your risk, consult a physician."
I think the last example is interesting – California banned gulf coast raw oysters in 2003 (only one I could find since raw milk in 1986 – does anyone else have examples of other food bans?).
California’s ban on Gulf Coast oysters costs Louisiana up to $20M so
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20030901/ai_n10173915
I have used a filmjolk culture that was given to me about a year ago in both raw cow’s milk and raw sheep’s milk and find it to be delicious. My family and friends have enjoyed it and I have passed on the the culture to others who use it successfully and healthfully in raw cow’s milk. I don’t know if it originally came from the link posted by cp or not.
Like kefir, it cultures at room temperature, making it very easy to use. The flavor is more similar to a mild yogurt. I don’t know for sure but have the impression that kefir may be richer in probiotics.
Hope this helps.
Jean
RE the Camembert Wars. I
enjoyed the article. Good support for the notion that high quality dairy products are made with raw milk and with the blessing and support of the national government. Also, a little insight into how the dominant corporations think and act.
Intelligently written and spiced with humor. Nice find.