Wyoming group contests raw food rules change

Posted on May 28, 2012 by bilrob

Wyoming group contests raw food rules change

CHEYENNE — The debate over proposed Wyoming food safety rules centers on opinions about what constitutes food safety.

“People in Wyoming are concerned with food safety,” state Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse said. “Many want to buy locally.”

The problem is, according to Wyoming Department of Agriculture spokesman Derek Grant, unregulated processing of locally produced products, such as chopped lettuce or cantaloupe, increases the chances of contamination.

One proposed rule allows farmers to sell leafy greens at a farmers market, for example, as long as they are not in a bag. If the greens are cut and placed in a bag, they are considered cut leafy greens and producers must meet sanitation requirements and obtain a license to sell them.

Wallis said farmers in Jackson Hole have been selling bagged greens to local restaurants at the restaurants’ request.

If the rule change is adopted, farmers will have to invest in a certified kitchen, with equipment to meet department requirements for cleaning the greens.

Grant said the proposal is intended to clarify rules already on the books.

He said the wording on the cut leafy greens rule comes from the federal Food and Drug Administration’s food code.

“What we’re trying to do is make it easier to sell products in the state of Wyoming,” Grant said. “I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there about what’s being changed in the rules.”

Wallis claims the proposed rules represent major change.

She said about 700 people have signed a petition urging the department to hold a public hearing on the rule changes.

A major sore point involves raw milk.

What’s getting people upset, Grant said, is the word “solely” in the new rule to clarify that only the sole owner of a cow can serve raw milk to people in the household, employees and guests.

Grant said the practice of cow sharing, or multiple people paying to get raw milk from a single cow, has been illegal in Wyoming for decades.

“The sale of raw milk is still not legal in the state of Wyoming,” Grant said.

Wallis said there is no law or regulation that even mentions cow shares.

The department, she said, is trying to perpetuate a rule that would allow only the sole owner of a cow to use the raw milk.

Wallis said she is a cow share owner because she wants fresh milk and she can’t have a cow in her town.

If the state adopts the sole owner rule, it will be taking away her property right, Wallis said.

Wallis also took issue with a proposed rule banning the sale of local, ungraded eggs.

Grant said the rule is designed to open opportunities for people who raise chickens so they can obtain licenses to sell their eggs to restaurants.

Wallis said someone who owns a flock of 50 chickens couldn’t afford to invest money in the equipment needed to clean, candle and grade eggs for sale.

Grant said people can still sign and date eggs and sell them at a farmers market if the rule change is adopted.

Wallis said so-called food freedom supporters are independent-minded and don’t want the government “to decide what we can eat or who we can buy it from.”

Kari Gray is Gov. Matt Mead’s chief of staff. Gray said she told Wallis she is interested in the Department of Agriculture having a public hearing on the proposed rules. Contact capital bureau reporter Joan Barron at 307-632-1244 or [email protected]

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Raw milk, and raw emotion, go to court

Posted on May 24, 2012 by bilrob

Raw milk, and raw emotion, go to court

MINNEAPOLIS – Melinda Olson has given her 12-year-old son raw milk for years. When he walked away virtually unscathed from a serious bike accident last year, she credited his healthy diet of raw milk dairy products.

Matthew Caldwell fed his 2-year-old son, Owen, raw milk in the spring of 2010. The boy was hospitalized for 13 days, victim of an E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak traced to raw milk producer Mike Hartmann.

The two parents’ stories are bookends to a debate that is on high boil in Minnesota. One farmer accused of breaking state law barring the off-farm sale of raw milk, Alvin Schlangen, is slated for trial in July. Hartmann was hit with the same criminal milk charge last month, and also faces a civil suit from Caldwell.

Raw milk isn’t pasteurized-heat-treated to kill pathogens. Advocates see it as integral to a superior diet, and decry what they see as heavy-handed attempts to limit its free flow and punish suppliers. “This is about the freedom to choose the foods we want for our families,” said Olson of Richfield, Minn.

But restrictions on raw milk are based on longstanding beliefs among public health authorities that non-pasteurized dairy products pose a special risk. This year alone, there have been five outbreaks of raw-milk related diseases spanning eight states.

The debate surfaced in Minnesota two years ago when eight people got E. coli 0157:H7, a bug that causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea-often bloody-and other nastiness. At its worst, it can lead to kidney failure and death.

After state health and farm inspectors linked the bug to Hartmann, the Minnesota Agriculture Department ordered him to stop peddling unpasteurized milk and cheese, as well as uninspected meat. He didn’t, the Agriculture Department says, so Hartmann was charged in Sibley County with eight misdemeanors and one gross misdemeanor for selling improperly labeled frozen food.

Hartmann’s wife, Diane, and brother Roger were hit with the same charges, all of which involve fines and potential jail time. None of the Hartmanns could be reached for comment.

Schlangen, a Stearns County farmer, has been charged with four misdemeanors in Hennepin County, including sale of unpasteurized milk. An egg farmer, Schlangen operates a 130-member private buying club, delivering raw milk produced by Amish farmers to consumers in the Twin Cities.

But state law only allows for “occasional” sales of raw milk products at the farm where they’re produced.

Schlangen called the law “absurd,” since it implies the same batch of raw milk is safe at the farm, but not if sold in the Twin Cities. He said he didn’t break the law, either. “The charges are based on commerce and there’s no commerce here. It’s a completely different food system than what we are accustomed to.”

Hartmann’s raw milk has been distributed through several “drop sites” in the Twin Cities, usually the homes of raw milk consumers, including Melinda Olson.

Last month, the Agriculture Department sent out a “notice of warning” to Olson and 10 other Twin Cities residents found to be serving as Hartmann drop sites in 2010.

But Olson said she’s not distributing raw milk. “They are not my customers,” she said of those who picked up Hartmann’s wares at her home.

With the flurry of warning letters and charges, Minnesota stands out nationally, said Pete Kennedy, head of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, legal adviser to raw milk causes. “It’s the most oppressive state in terms of freedom of food choice.”

The state Agriculture Department says it’s just doing its job. “We don’t write the laws, we enforce the laws as written,” said Mike Schommer, a department spokesman.

Raw milk partisans say the beverage simply tastes better, and it comes from an agriculture ecosystem they value: small, local farms populated with grass-fed cows.

Raw dairy goods are healthier and more nutritious, too, they claim, boosting immunity, building bones. Olson said that when her son got hit by a car on his bike, the bike was totaled, but he suffered only bruises. His raw milk intake, she said, “made him strong.”

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control, echoing the public health consensus, says credible scientific evidence for such health claims is lacking. That study also noted that illnesses associated with raw milk tend to make people sicker than those linked to pasteurized dairy products.

The incidence of illness linked to any milk products is quite low, said Fred Pritzker, a Minneapolis attorney who has represented about 20 victims of raw milk-related food poisoning. But if disease strikes with raw milk, he likened the experience to driving without a seat belt. “When you get hit, you’re really going to get hurt.”

With E. coli 0157:H7, the biggest hit usually comes from hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure. That’s what Matthew Caldwell’s son Owen contracted, according to a suit filed last summer on the child’s behalf.

Before the 2-year-old was hospitalized, he experienced bloody diarrhea at the rate of 20 times in 24 hours, court records say. After blood transfusions and kidney dialysis, he recovered. Caldwell is seeking payment from Hartmann for more than $50,000 in medical costs.

Hennepin County District Judge Susan Burke has ruled that Hartmann was negligent, but she also accepted his argument that Owen Caldwell’s parents potentially bore some responsibility because they should have known of raw milk’s risks.

The Caldwells’ attorney rejected Hartmann’s assertion, and noted the “irony” of the farmer’s new tack-”after spending much time championing the benefits of raw milk and its safety.” A jury likely will decide the proportion of fault between Hartmann and the Caldwells.

Matthew Caldwell, who has moved from Minneapolis to Boise, Idaho, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Seattle food safety attorney Bill Marler, who has sued several raw milk providers, said that when illness strikes consumers’ attitude about risk often changes. “The people who get sick or whose children get sick have a much different perspective. They feel guilty.”

But Olson, who’s aware of the Caldwell case, said she simply doesn’t associate raw milk with extra risk.

“Everything has an inherent risk. Peanut butter has killed people, does it mean I’m never going to buy peanut butter? No,” she said, referring to a 2008 salmonella outbreak. “There wouldn’t be anything left to eat if we let fear dictate our choices.”

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Consumers Advised to Discard Pasteurized Ice Cream Containing Raw Milk

Posted on May 17, 2012 by bilrob

Consumers Advised to Discard Pasteurized Ice Cream Containing Raw Milk

According to a press release obtained by Food Poisoning Bulletin, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture issued an advisory about ice cream sold at Dutch Valley Bakery BBQ in Spring Mills, Centre County.

The ice cream was produced by Spring Bank Acres of Rebersburg in Centre County. The advisory states, “Spring Bank Acres produced an ice cream mix to which raw milk was added after pasteurization, potentiallly presenting a food safety risk. The product was representated as pasteurized ice cream and sold as ‘homemade’ by Dutch Valley Bakery BBQ.”

Samantha Krepps of the Ag Department told us that “no illnesses were reported” linked to this product. Dutch Valley Bakery BBQ sold the ice cream as-in and made it into milkshakes. While it’s legal to sell raw milk with a permit in Pennsylvania, the sale of raw milk ice cream is illegal.

Raw milk can contain pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter, that can sicken even healthy people. Those in high risk groups, such as the very young, the elderly, pregnant women, anyone with a compromised immune system, and anyone with a chronic disease, can become seriously ill from these bacteria.

If anyone has consumed this product and experienced the symptoms of food poisoning, which can include vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache, body aches, and stomach cramps, please call the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-724-3258.

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Minnesota farmer going on trial in raw milk case - Raw milk recalled

Posted on May 13, 2012 by bilrob

Minnesota farmer going on trial in raw milk case – Raw milk recalled

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A Minnesota farmer who distributes raw milk is due to stand trial next week for food code violations in a case that pits the government’s efforts to ensure a safe food supply against consumers’ rights to choose what they drink and eat.

Alvin Schlangen, 54, is an organic egg farmer in Freeport, about 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis. He doesn’t produce milk himself but operates a private club called Freedom Farms Co-op with roughly 130 members who buy various farm products including raw milk. Schlangen picks up milk products from an Amish farm and delivers them to consumers, mainly in the Twin Cities.

Raw milk is unpasteurized, meaning it hasn’t been heat-treated to kill pathogens. Under Minnesota law, it can be sold directly to consumers only on the farm where it’s produced. Advocates say it’s easier to digest and contains beneficial enzymes that pasteurization destroys. But public health experts say there’s little nutritional difference between pasteurized and unpasteurized milk and untreated milk contains harmful bacteria, such as E. coli, salmonella, listeria and campylobacter, that can cause stroke, kidney failure, paralysis or death.

Schlangen, who faces criminal charges in two counties, is set for trial Monday in Hennepin County District Court. His supporters have planned a rally for Monday at the courthouse in Minneapolis.

“We have a bureaucracy that’s intent for whatever reason on making sure people aren’t able to get raw milk,” Nathan Hansen, Schlangen’s attorney, told the St. Cloud Times (http://on.sctimes.com/JIKnDu).

Minnesota Department of Agriculture spokesman Michael Schommer declined to comment on Schlangen’s case because it’s ongoing. But he said a key element of the department’s mission is food safety.

“We cannot arbitrarily choose certain business models or product categories to be exempt from basic food safety and sanitary requirements,” Schommer said.

Schlangen is charged in Hennepin County with four misdemeanors, including selling unpasteurized milk products or possessing them for sale. The criminal complaint says inspectors last year searched a Minneapolis warehouse leased by Schlangen, where they found unpasteurized milk and other foods. They also found receipts from sales Schlangen made even though he didn’t have a license to sell, handle or store food. Each count carries a maximum penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Schlangen said he’s doing nothing wrong because his members lease the animals that provide the raw milk, so there’s no purchase or sale.

He also faces six misdemeanors in Stearns County stemming from a 2010 inspection of his farm, including keeping food products at improper temperatures. Assistant Stearns County Attorney William MacPhail said that case is more about general food safety than raw milk. Schlangen has repeatedly refused to get a food handler’s license, MacPhail said.

“The concern here is, whether it’s eggs or milk or whatever kind of food, is that Minnesota law requires everybody — including Alvin — to properly refrigerate it,” MacPhail said.

Schlangen is getting legal help from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, an advocacy group that has challenged raw milk laws.

Peter Kennedy, president of the fund, said it’s not practical for most people, especially Twin Cities residents who live 50 to 100 miles away, to go to a farm to buy raw milk. He said that’s why members of Schlangen’s club arrange for his deliveries.

“They’re happy with what he does for them, and yet the state is trying to get in the way of this private, contractual relationship,” Kennedy said.

Schlangen said he won’t quit.

“I can’t stop doing something that I completely believe in,” he said. ” … Unless I’m in jail, I have no reason to stop connecting these families with their food.”

___

Information from: St. Cloud Times, http://www.sctimes.com

Raw Milk recalled in California

FRESNO, Calif. — Raw milk from a Central California dairy is being recalled after tests confirmed bacteria called campylobacter was found in its raw cream.

State health officials say at least 10 people have fallen ill after consuming products from Organic Pastures in Fresno County between January and April. None were hospitalized.

California State Veterinarian Annette Whiteford issued a quarantine order for the dairy’s products Thursday. The state also issued a statewide recall of its raw milk, raw skim milk, raw cream and raw butter. Consumers are urged to dispose of any of the dairy’s products they may have.

The dairy’s owner, Mark McAfee, says he believes the test results are incorrect. He has requested a hearing with the California Department of Food and Agriculture Friday.

It’s the second recall in six months for the company, which was forced to recall milk contaminated with E.coli in December.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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What is Raw Milk

Posted on April 20, 2012 by bilrob

What is Raw Milk

The number of people drinking raw milk is on the rise, as is the related number of human infections from raw milk consumption. Caught up in the popularity of legitimate local, organic and sustainable food movements, or confused by conflicting information, consumers may be gravitating toward raw milk without realizing the potential for health risks.

So, what is raw milk? It’s milk that has not been pasteurized, acquired from hoofed mammals such as cows, goats or sheep. Pasteurization heats milk to a temperature just high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, Salmonella, Brucella and Campylobacter which may cause food-borne illness and even death.

These bacteria are especially dangerous to children, pregnant women, the elderly, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Raw milk proponents believe pasteurization diminishes milk’s health and nutritional benefits, and rally behind anecdotal reports that promote superior nutrition and health advantages for raw milk. The actual research shows no such benefits.

SAFETY RISK

According to the nutrition advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest, 83 percent of milk foodborne illness outbreaks are from raw milk, yet an estimated five to 10 million Americans drink raw milk. Between 1998 and 2008, there were 85 outbreaks of human infection from raw milk consumption and 1,614 illnesses (though likely higher due to underreporting), 187 hospitalizations, and two deaths reported. As of March 2010, 12 more cases from raw milk produced in Indiana were confirmed.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has required pasteurization of all packaged milk products and restricted interstate sales since 1987. The FDA acknowledges the risk of consuming raw milk and strongly advises against it, but actual regulation lies with individual states. Some states permit the retail sale of raw milk, while others only permit sales from farm to consumer.

Currently, 29 states authorize the legal sale of raw milk for human consumption, 17 allow farm sales only, and 13 allow retail sales. Depending on your state’s laws, you should ensure that every milk product you purchase is labeled “pasteurized” in order to safeguard your health.

RAW MILK AND PASTEURIZATION: DEBUNKING THE MYTHS

EN gives you the following facts on milk safety;

1. Pasteurizing milk DOES NOT cause lactose intolerance and allergic reactions. Both raw milk and pasteurized milk can cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to milk proteins.

2. Raw milk DOES NOT kill dangerous pathogens.

3. Pasteurization DOES NOT reduce milk’s nutritional value.

4. Pasteurization DOES NOT mean that it’s safe to leave milk out of the refrigerator for extended periods.

5. Pasteurization DOES kill harmful bacteria.

6. Pasteurization DOES save lives.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

(Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC. 800-829-5384. http://www.EnvironmentalNutrition.com.)

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Raw Milk and Why We're Seeing So Many Outbreaks

Posted on April 16, 2012 by bilrob

Raw Milk and Why We’re Seeing So Many Outbreaks

On Friday, the Oregon Public Health Division, Department of Agriculture and several local Oregon health departments announced that they were investigating an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli) infections that at the time had left three Portland-area children hospitalized, two with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure. All of these children drank raw milk from the same small farm: Foundation Farm in Clackamas County. The farm has voluntarily ceased its milk distribution to customers in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. As many as 11 may be sickened.

According to news reports over the last week, Missouri state health officials have confirmed E. coli cases in Boone, Cooper, Howard, Camden and Jackson counties. Health officials say a 2-year-old girl and a 17-month-old child developed HUS, and while not all 13 E. coli cases have been clearly attributed to raw milk consumption, investigators say raw dairy products are a “possible” factor in some of the cases.

I’ve been asked lots of questions about raw milk consumption, E. coli outbreaks, and other topics in the nearly 20 years I’ve been litigating E. coli cases. Here are some of my favorite questions and answers about raw milk:

Q: Pasteurization of milk was lauded as one of the biggest public health successes of the 20th Century. Why are so many people turning away from pasteurized milk and seeking out sources of “raw”, or unpasteurized milk?

A: People-especially those on the higher end of the socioeconomic range-have been turning toward raw milk for a variety of reasons. Some believe pasteurization kills beneficial bacteria and enzymes in raw milk. Others have heard that raw milk consumption can cure asthma, eczema, or attention deficit disorder (ADD). A parent with adequate resources will go to almost any lengths to provide what they believe is the most wholesome source of nutrients for their child, and well-presented misinformation about the purported health benefits of drinking raw milk abounds on the Internet so it’s really difficult for a consumer – even a really smart one – who is desperate to find a remedy to his or her child’s medical condition to discern fact from fiction when it comes to raw milk.

I think, too, that there’s an inherent distrust of government, so when the government or big agriculture tells people not to feed their kids raw milk–a natural food–it’s easy for people to ignore that advice. Especially when they can afford it.

Q: Whole Foods and some other stores that sell many natural food products have stopped selling raw milk. Why?

A: Whole Foods and Seattle-area co-op PCC stopped selling raw milk products just about two years ago for a couple of reasons. One reason was because unpasteurized milk is considered a high risk food, especially for children, pregnant women, an immunocompromised people-like people receiving cancer treatment, or those with HIV. Another was because the liability insurance necessary to cover multi-million dollar HUS cases is not inexpensive.

Q: You started raising your own chickens a couple of years ago, after a Salmonella outbreak traced to eggs. Would you ever consider buying a cow or a goat and drinking its milk?

A: Interesting question. Raw milk is dangerous in part because of sanitation issues. Cows, goats and sheep all defecate very close to where their milk is produced, allowing for what I believe is too high of a probability for fecal contamination during the milking process to ever drink milk produced by this hypothetical new addition to my family. In theory, I could home pasteurize milk produced by this animal and safely consume it, but I would still be responsible for cleaning up after it, and that would mean handling feces potentially contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter or other pathogens. I’ll leave that work to someone else and continue buying pasteurized milk from the store.

Q: What would you tell someone who was contemplating a purchase of raw milk?

A: The first thing I would say is, “Please, I beg you, don’t feed it to your kids.” Any adult contemplating a purchase of raw milk to consume individually should be educated about the risks associated with consuming unpasteurized dairy products. Real Raw Milk Facts was inspired by discussions following presentations related to the increasing popularity of raw milk. It was developed and reviewed by scientists and health educators in universities, government, industry, and professional organizations, and is supported in part by Marler Clark. The Hot Topics section presents the facts about commonly asked questions related to raw milk consumption.

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Raw milk possible source of E. coli bacteria outbreak

Posted on April 10, 2012 by bilrob

Raw milk possible source of E. coli bacteria outbreak in central Missouri

A 2-year-old from Boone County is hospitalized with an E. coli bacterial infection that may have been caused by drinking raw milk, health officials said today.

Five people from central Missouri have been sickened by the same E. coli bacterial strain in late March and early April, the state health department reported in an alert to doctors on Thursday.

All three patients from Boone County, including the 2-year-old, reported consuming raw (unpasteurized) dairy products, according to a county health spokeswoman.

The other cases are in Cooper and Howard counties, state health officials said. It is unknown if raw milk has been tied to those cases.

In addition to the 2-year-old, a 17-month-old has also developed life-threatening complications affecting the kidneys. Several more cases are considered suspected E. coli infections and may be added to the total after further testing.

The Missouri health department is investigating the cases and has not pinpointed the source of the bacteria.

Symptoms of E. coli infection include severe stomach cramping and bloody diarrhea that starts within 10 days of consuming contaminated food or water. Most illnesses resolve within a week, although young children and older adults are more susceptible to kidney failure.

There were 93 disease outbreaks linked to raw milk in the U.S. from 1998 to 2009. People should only consume pasteurized milk products that have been refrigerated at 40 degrees or cooler, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last fall, 58 people including 38 in Missouri and nine in Illinois were sickened in an E. coli outbreak that was linked to romaine lettuce from salad bars at nine Schnucks locations. Health investigators believe the lettuce became contaminated at an unidentified farm that supplies produce to the stores.

Health officials recommend thoroughly cooking all meats, washing fruits and vegetables and practicing good hand hygiene to lower the risk of contracting the illness.

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Raw Milk Quarantine Lifted - You Still Shouldn't Drink It

Posted on April 1, 2012 by bilrob

Raw Milk Quarantine Lifted – You Still Shouldn’t Drink It

I drank raw milk as a kid. If you were poor and living in the country decades ago, when dairy farmers still had some measure of autonomy from government rules, you probably did too.

It didn’t hurt me. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to drink it; now, instead of poor people in the country who didn’t want to pay a lot for milk in a store because it was price controlled by the government, raw milk is a fad for the wealthy anti-vaccine crowd.

Claravale Farm of San Benito County, one of two raw milk dairies in the state of California, has been under quarantine because tests showed campylobacter bacteria in its products. And, no surprise, California has seen clusters of campylobacter illnesses that correlated to raw milk consumption, so state officials wanted to see if those were tied to the non-pasteurized milk.

The dairy meets minimum sanitation requirements and they can’t prove the illnesses were related to the dairy so you can buy their milk again – it doesn’t mean you should. When pasteurization was implemented for milk in the last century, the argument was from grumpy old white guys that newfangled science was going to ruin ‘real’ milk and, in true precautionary principle fashion, they argued that because it increased costs and was a government requirement, it would drive small milk producers out of business and mean less milk overall leading to higher prices for poor people. Today, ‘real’ milk proponents are grumpy young women, who argue that ‘essential nutrients’ are taken out in pasteurization so they like paying more for dairy untainted by any science or health benefits. Their brethren on the natural food fringes have been arguing for decades that all milk is bad for you and no dairy is needed at all.

Scientifically, the ‘dairy is not needed’ crowd is a lot more accurate than the ‘raw milk is awesome’ crowd. There is a negligible benefit to milk in a modern diet, its benefits are touted because it is part of our culture, but the risks when mishandled are real. People who latch on to the raw milk craze don’t understand basic logic; they think if the Centers for Disease Control endorses breastfeeding because it builds a baby’s immune system but says not to drink raw milk because of the risk of salmonella, the CDC is contradicting itself. It isn’t. The concentration of salmonella bacteria issuing from mother to child is negligible, unless a mother’s nipple has feces or an infection on it, the way cow udders can get without being noticed – but the number of salmonella bacteria in raw milk or raw eggs or uncooked chicken is substantial. This is not just fancy science, every person who cooks knows it. You don’t touch cooked chicken after you handle uncooked chicken because the disease risk is not worth it.

What is the world’s most dangerous food product? It isn’t pink slime and it isn’t the McRib, it is raw milk. Government statistics show raw milk is responsible for nearly three times more hospitalizations than any other foodborne disease, according to Dr. Hannah Gould, senior epidemiologist with the CDC’s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch.

Pasteurization kills harmful bacteria. Love it. Accept science.

Let me be clear; I’d drink raw milk today. I am not all that worried but I grew up near a dairy farm – no way is salmonella making me any sicker than I probably got as a kid but the benefit of raw milk over pasteurized milk is nonexistent so while I am not afraid to drink it, I am not paying more to do so. I also have no problem eating street chicken in Taiwan, even though most Chinese are immune to hepatitis-A and Americans are not. If you did not grow near on a dairy farm, and you suddenly begin drinking raw milk because of an organic marketing campaign, you are putting your health at risk.

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Does Raw Milk do a Body Good? The Raw Milk Debate Continues

Posted on March 28, 2012 by bilrob

Does Raw Milk do a Body Good? The Raw Milk Debate Continues

In the U.S., only 10 states can currently sell raw milk for purchase and in 15 others, only on-farm sales are allowed. Meanwhile, in France, raw milk is a mainstay. The March issue of Food Nutrition Science features a debate with Dr. Heidi Kassenborg, a veterinarian and the director of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Food Inspection Division who opposes the sale of raw milk and Doug Stephan, radio host of Good Day and a dairy farmer who sells raw milk from his Framingham, Massachusetts farm.

“Currently the House of Representatives is debating Bill 1830 that expands raw milk availability to all states,” says Phil Lempert, founder of Food Nutrition Science and CEO of The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com. “I welcome the debate as it brings food safety issues to the forefront of discussion and for this, consumers win.”

Both sides claim the others’ studies are flawed and outdated and those opposed say they aren’t against raw milk, they oppose the pathogens that can and often do get into milk during the milking and collection process that lead to illness. While those in favor say raw milk has a very short supply chain so fewer processes means fewer opportunities for the milk to become contaminated. They also say it’s about a consumer’s choice.

Also in this month’s Food Nutrition Science, an update from the Natural Products Expo where coconut water continues as a big trend making its appearance in coffee, energy drinks and other products.

In addition, Food Nutrition Science features interviews with Award-Winning Chef and Owner of Tremont 647 Andy Husbands, California fruit and vegetable farmer Craig Underwood, who farms over 2,100 acres on his Underwood Ranches Farms and Kara Phillips, Channel Marketing manager for Unilever Food Solutions that recently launched a “United Against Waste” campaign designed to help the foodservice industry tackle food waste issues.

Among other items featured this month, video diaries from Crystal and Marty Wooldridge who show us their 500 head cow-calf ranch in Oil City, Louisiana and Joan Shorter, director of Food and Nutrition Services for Prince George County in Maryland, who captures how some schools in her district help students get a healthy school breakfast to start the day.

About Food Nutrition Science With more than 26,000 readers, Food Nutrition Science is the only monthly newsletter created for all food industry players to communicate about the safest, most efficient and healthiest ways to get food to our plates. Founded by food industry analyst and CEO of The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com Phil Lempert, Food Nutrition Science provides readers analysis and offers discussions on all issues relating to the food industry. To learn more about healthy foods, trends, recipes and maneuvering the supermarket download “Smarter Shopping with Phil Lempert,” a state-of the-art mobile app available at iTunes.

For more information or to subscribe to Food Nutrition Science, please visit
www.FoodNutritionScience.com .
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Recent CDC study reveals dangers of raw milk

Posted on March 19, 2012 by bilrob

Recent CDC study reveals dangers of raw milk

Sujatha Kattimani, a Redwood City software engineer, drives regularly to the Cupertino farmers market to buy raw milk at $7.25 per half-gallon. It’s about three times as expensive as regular milk and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, could make her ill. Kattimani drinks two glasses a day anyway. And she’s one of a rapidly growing number of raw milk enthusiasts.

Raw milk has not been pasteurized, or heated to kill bacteria. A recent CDC study said raw milk products accounted for 36 percent of individuals sickened in milk-related disease outbreaks from 1993 to 2006. That’s a large percentage considering that only an estimated 1 percent of milk drinkers consume raw milk.

In all, 4,413

people were sickened in dairy-borne outbreaks — although that is just a small fraction of the 48 million people the CDC estimates are sickened by food each year.

“No matter how you line it up, there is more risk with the raw product,” said Michele Jay-Russell, a UC Davis food safety expert not involved in the study.

CDC epidemiologist Adam Langer, lead author of the study, noted that research does not support any special health benefits of raw milk.

“It’s just not worth the risk,” he said.

But raw milk’s popularity persists in California, fueled by permissive laws that allow it to be sold in supermarkets and anecdotal evidence of health benefits that is enough to convince its devotees.

“I think it worked wonders

for me,” said Kattimani, 43. Raw milk is the only milk she has been able to drink since becoming lactose intolerant to both conventional and organic pasteurized milk. Of the CDC’s warnings, she said, “I don’t disregard them completely, but more like I always take it with a grain of salt.” She has never had a problem with raw milk and said if she ever did, she would probably still drink it.

On its website, Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes raw milk, criticizes

the latest CDC study for stopping just before 2007, when tainted pasteurized milk killed three people.

Langer said they used the most recent data available. In the same week the study was published, raw milk sickened at least 78 people in a Pennsylvania outbreak.

California is one of 12 states that allow raw milk sales at retail stores, while 20 states prohibit sales outright. Other states permit raw milk with varying restrictions. Federal law prohibits selling raw milk across state lines.

Raw milk is a $9 million business in California, according to Mark McAfee, owner of Fresno-based Organic Pastures Dairy — one of only two state-licensed raw milk suppliers.

“It sells like crazy,” McAfee said. His $8 million operation,

licensed in 2001, has grown about $1 million annually in recent years and now serves about 75,000 consumers weekly, he said.

Raw milk believers swear by the product’s purported health benefits, including relief from allergies, eczema, asthma, lactose intolerance, ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease. Most claims rely on anecdotal evidence and informal surveys.

Christine Chessen, 45, of San Francisco, said raw milk improved her three children’s immune systems after they started drinking it in 2007. The family has since weathered every flu season sniffle-free. “It’s almost like I feel like they’re inoculated or something,” said Chessen, a certified nutritionist.

Some European studies have linked raw milk consumption to fewer

childhood allergies. But many of those same studies cite milk-borne pathogens in recommending against raw milk as preventive treatment.

Federal health agencies say that while the benefits are unproven, the risks of raw milk are clear. Improper handling can still taint pasteurized milk, but the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration say high-temperature treatment is an important first line of defense.

“Raw milk does have a checkered history of safety issues,” acknowledged McAfee, alluding to the high incidence of milk-borne illnesses before the 1900s. But with modern sanitation, he believes “we know now how to produce very safe, very clean raw milk.”

Still, Organic Pastures milk has been recalled for disease outbreaks in

2006 and again in November — both related to the uncommon but highly virulent O157:H7 type of E. coli. Most recently, five children younger than 6 were sickened across California. Three children were hospitalized with hemolytic-uremic syndrome, which destroys red blood cells and damages the kidneys. It’s not the most common milk-borne pathogen, but it’s one of the most powerful.

State investigators found that the patients were linked only by recent consumption of Organic Pastures raw milk. All five were infected by a rare strain of E. coli O157:H7 that genetically matched soil, water and fecal bacteria samples found in the farm’s calving area — physically distant from the milking area and serviced by different staff. “We just don’t know how it happened,” said McAfee, who has since added new cleaning protocols.

Mary McGonigle-Martin, 52, of Murrieta, said she didn’t fully grasp the health risks when her 7-year-old son, Chris, was sickened in the 2006 outbreak. Websites that advocate raw milk and conspicuous advertisements at her local health foods store convinced her that raw milk could be a safe, natural remedy for her son’s chronic sinus congestion. She bought Organic Pastures milk after reading about the farm online. “That they tested the milk and they’d never found a pathogen — the testing was what sold me,” said McGonigle-Martin, a school counselor.

Even with sophisticated lab tests, E. coli can be much harder to detect in milk than in, say, ground beef, said Michael Payne, a UC Davis food safety expert. “I have zero faith that there exists technologies that currently allow for the adequate on-farm testing of raw milk for pathogens,” he said.

McGonigle-Martin’s son developed HUS, experienced kidney failure, and at one point required a ventilator. “My choice almost killed my child,” McGonigle-Martin said.

For other parents, she stressed that drinking and serving raw milk is a personal choice that should be made knowing all the risks.

“You better know what pathogens could be in the milk and what could result,” McGonigle-Martin said. “If you can’t name those diseases and illnesses, then you shouldn’t be making the choice.”

Contact Helen Shen at 408-920-5064.

Vegetarian, Raw milk and Vegan with Bill & Sheila
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