I dont know of another food that gets as much attention from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control as raw milk. Round and round the agency goes, presenting research that slams raw milk, arguing, yet again, that raw milk should be banned, never presenting helpful safety guidelines.
It has done studies to show that raw milk is 150 times more dangerous than pasteurized. It funded a study in Minnesota to show that more than 20,000 people during the first decade of this century got sick from raw milk there, rather than the 21 the state officially reported. Raw milk is the only food that warrants its own CDC-sponsored web site about its dangers.
Each of these studies and presentations is deeply flawed, and now the agency is out with another, equally flawed study, purporting to demonstrate that raw milk is not only as highly dangerous as it has been since the beginning of civilization, but getting more dangerous. Its evidence? The number of US outbreaks caused by nonpasteurized milk increased from 30 during 20072009 to 51 during 20102012.
Now, that sure does sound ominous. Until you realize a few things. The CDC talks, once again, about the number of outbreaks rather than the number of illnesses. An outbreak can include as few as two illnesses, all the way up to many thousands of illnesses. So, its possible to have a few outbreaks with many illnesses, and vice versa. What happened during those two periods in terms of the number of people who got sick? Tellingly, the CDC doesnt say. You know when the CDC omits data, its only because the data doesnt help its propaganda campaign.
The only reference the CDC makes to the number of illnesses is to say that during the six years from 2007-2012, These outbreaks resulted in 979 illnesses and 73 hospitalizations. That averages out to 163 illnesses per year. Given that there are something on the order of about 15,000 reported illnesses each year in the U.S., that means raw milk illnesses, as measured by the CDC, account for slightly more than one per cent of all reported food-borne illnesses.
The CDC makes no effort to suggest that raw milk producers have become less safety conscious. Indeed, it attributes the increase in illnesses to an increase in demand for raw milk. Despite the health risks associated with consuming nonpasteurized milk, the demand for nonpasteurized milk has increased. Thats about the only thing that makes senseincrease the demand for any food, and chances are the number of illnesses will also rise.
The important question is whether the number of illnesses is increasing as quickly or more slowly than the rise in demand. Of course,there is no effort to correlate illnesses with consumption. Thats because trying to answer that question would take the CDC into the realm of real science, and thats not where these Tokyo Roses of modern U.S. food safety want to hang out. (If you dont know who Tokyo Rose was, you can get an idea from the poster aboveshe was a master of Japanese propaganda, trying to demoralize American soldiers during World War II, not unlike the CDC trying to demoralize American consumers who seek raw dairy products, and the farmers who produce them).
I originally wasnt going to write about this CDC rubbish. Why should I give weight to something that deserves to be ignored? I eventually concluded that because such CDC propaganda is distributed so widelyfor example, Time Magazine gave this latest raw milk study a big writeupits important for the sake of the public record that the CDCs systematic campaign of half truths (thats really what propaganda is) be challenged.
How, you might ask, can I be so sure the CDC is guilty of spewing propaganda rather than providing important food safety info? Because I know that if the CDC was truly concerned about food safety, and thought that raw milk illnesses were rising more quickly than demand, the agency would be inquiring into what it would take to produce raw milk more safely. It would actually want to give people tools to reduce their risk of illness other than tell them to choose pasteurized milk and dairy products (as it does in classic vintage propaganda poster style below right).
But youll notice there isnt a single word of concern or guidance expressed about how raw milk might be produced more safety. Thats because the CDC is only concerned about serving Big Dairy processors who want to ban raw milk from the U.S. Anything less is defeat, as the agency indicates when it bemoans the fact that raw milk is being legalized in various forms (such as via herdshares) in more states.
As I have said previously, the CDC actually wants to see illnesses from raw milk increase. By pushing to ban raw milk, it hopes to help in that endeavor, forcing it underground, where illnesses are more likely. Hows that for true public health concern?
Thats why its so important to poke holes in its shoddy research, and document its irresponsible behavior, for the sake of future generations. The CDC is operating under the old adage that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes truth to many people.
So, we have gone back to regroup and re approach. The next round will be ours. We found a way to make the FDA their own worst enemy. Now that’s a diplomatic raw milk Karate move!! They will not be fighting me, they will be fighting themselves. It is also a time to start working in congress to bring another round of legislation to tear down the arbitrary, capricious federal wall that divides farmers and consumers.
A couple of people knowledgeable about these things have pointed out that there is a notable omission in the CDC study here: no mention of listeria as a cause of raw milk illnesses. It’s not mentioned in the study, nor is it mentioned in the propaganda poster pictured in my post as a cause of raw milk illnesses. These individuals cited two possible reasons for this omission:
1. Listeria hasn’t been responsible for any raw milk illnesses. This despite frequent warnings from the CDC and other regulators about the dangers of listeria in raw milk, including in this propaganda poster showing raw milk as a main cause of illness from listeria.
2. Listeria was the cause of three deaths from pasteurized milk back in 2007. (The new CDC report covers 2007-2012.) Which may help explain why the CDC notably omits raw milk from any comparison with pasteurized milk. Otherwise, the CDC would have been forced to state: “Raw milk wasn’t responsible for any deaths during the period covered, while pasteurized milk was responsible for three deaths.”
Wouldn’t it have been an interesting area of analysis for the CDC to consider why listeria isn’t a factor in raw milk illnesses, despite many years of scientists believing the opposite? Unfortunately, the CDC “scientists” aren’t capable of such scientific reflection and analysis. That’s what happens when propaganda and politics are driving your “science.”
I have a theory which I believe to be very true. Until the internet became the great information balancing force, processors could blame raw milk for all of the failings and failures of pasteurization. Raw milk was and is the ultimate scape goat! Set Federal standards very loose and make pre-pasteurized raw milk filled with all sorts of bad things, pay the farmer nothing for it and then blame it for all the bad things that happen when the “settled science and perfect technology of pasteurization failed!!” It is a perfect system including plausible excuses in the illness blame game! Except…this scape goat system does not work when there is a separate set of standards for clean raw milk for direct human consumption. When there are standards for clean raw milk…it becomes very clear that raw milk is not a carrier or a risk for certain pathogens. Namely…Listeria M.
So for all the years and all the deaths that were easily blamed on that dirty raw milk…those years have come to an end. Now the pasteurization industry can no longer just blame that dirty raw milk. Now…it must live with the fact that pasteurization has its own very unique challenges and that Listeria simply loves to occupy dead milk in the post pasteurization phase. ( see Dr. Nicole Martin Cornell Study on high temp treatment of milk and increased risk of death by Listeria M with higher temps ) Yet….the CDC has zero deaths and no illness reported for Listeria in raw milk when consumed as a cold raw product and never heated! This has been the ages old mantra for scaring moms about consumption of raw milk while pregnant. Now the best studies in the EU ( PASTURE Cohort ) says that raw milk is a blessing to moms and their newborn babies. babies born of raw milk drinking moms have high levels of antibody markers in cord blood giving life long protection from allergies and asthma!! Have I said today that the CDC and FDA are corrupt and criminal organizations??
It is so uncomfortable and very inconvenient to no longer be able to blame raw milk!. No more raw milk whipping boy and the raw milk scape goat is not longer available. Ouch!!
If I were involved with raw milk, I think I’d be more concerned with the new alter-ego of Tokyo Rose; her name being ‘Google’. My guess is most businesses ‘Google’ their business name every now and again. It’s an easy, free and current way of assessing the situation v/v a product. And so, I’d guess you might Google ‘Raw Milk News’, and no surprise, there it is……lots and lots of really bad news over the last few months. Yes, because news is always better news if it is bad. Far too many people (especially children) made seriously ill by raw milk in too many places (globally). CDC employees can see this, so why would they revise their thinking any time soon?
John
The CDC, Marler Clark and their Food Safety News and the FDA, as well as a consortium of medical and big ag networks and joined in a common effort to derail raw milk at every opportunity. This is a concerted effort and it has been funded by the FDA. They admit this funding link. It is no secret. The reduction of access to raw milk in the USA has been publically promoted as one of their goals.
So, that is all fine and very easy to see and appreciate. That is why Google search optimizations have shown this message. However, when you look at the social media and the You Tube channels, they are literally packed solid with tons of great support for raw milk and deep discussions about safety and standards.
The FDA can bring all the bad news they want about raw milk and they can not stop the decline and massive arterial bleeding in the pasteurized milk markets. The GUT GOOGLE search that takes place every day is the one to watch. GUT GOOGLE is what people do when they find that they can not pasteurized milk and they discover that they have been lied to by the FDA and can drink raw milk just fine. The big lie can not be buried and people get pissed!
Those results are not so very public…they are private and drive the soul of the raw milk markets.
John, I would echo Mark’s observations. I’d also add that the CDC does what it can to raise fears about raw milk, no matter what the trends of the recent news–discouraging, encouraging, or neutral. Its scientists are ideologues about raw milk, so they will beat the drum of fear no matter what.
As Mark suggests, CDC officials are very insulated from real people who are out there searching out real food. Ideologues generally don’t want to be bothered with other opinions, or with rational discussion. So its officials have little awareness of all the cynicism about them and their FDA counterparts.
That doesn’t mean dairy producers shouldn’t be working hard to make their products as safely as possible, even within a hostile regulatory environment made ever more hostile by CDC operatives. Keep supplying real food to desperate consumers, while the CDC operatives do their own sick thing of reveling in illness.
http://news.therawfoodworld.com/new-raw-milk-study-proves-raw-milk-protects-children-respiratory-infections-febrile-illnes-inflammation-middle-ear/
It will be interesting to see how they accomplish this.
The following article suggests that, Our lungs were long considered to be germfree and sterile. It was only recently discovered that, like our intestines and skin, our respiratory organs are colonised by bacteria.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140515090801.htm
Yes, and many claim that the mammary system is sterile as well, when in fact it to is colonized by bacteria. Medaling with this floral balance using antibiotics and antibacterial teat dips is unwise.
Ken
http://www.nature.com/cmi/journal/v8/n2/full/cmi201067a.html
Maybe they will begin to use this knowledge as a tool to identify individuals along with fingerprinting.
Ken
Where is CDC and our public health people when it comes to these kinds of issues, all you hear are crickets. And then they wonder why nobody listens to these governmental agencies. Bought and paid for by corporate America!! 331 million pounds of Round Up applied per year in the US alone. Buy Organic people, before you can’t remember who you are!!
http://www.cornucopia.org/2014/12/monsanto-suggests-roundup-herbicide-treatment-many-crops-right-harvest-not-just-roundup-ready-gmos/
If PMO fluid milk sales are tanking, isnt the processors business tanking along with it?
All the real issues seem to be in the pre-processing area, i.e. the existence of the cow, and of its food, and of its life, up to the milking. Related real issues would include the farm family, the economics of the family farm, the community of which the family is a member, correct?
After that, dont alter the milk, dont introduce anything into the milk, keep it cool, transport it.
For which there seems to be a growing market.
Have a glyphosate free day!
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
In the vein of delineating the interference of government as it overflows its proper channels, flooding the countryside, here is a recent observation of Warren Meyer at Coyoteblog.com:
The similarity between the text of the recent NY report on fracking and the fictional state attack on Rearden Metal in Atlas Shrugged is just amazing.
Here is the cowardly State Science Institute report on Rearden Metal from Atlas Shrugged, where a state agency attempts to use vague concerns of unproven potential issues to ban the product for what are essentially political reasons (well-connected incumbents in the industry don’t want this sort of competition).
So he begins, and he ends:
Why is it the Left readily applies the (silly) precautionary principle to every new beneficial technology or business model but never applies it to sweeping authoritarian legislation (e.g. Obamacare)?
Going back to Meyers 12/11 Trend That is Not A Trend: Sexual Assaults On Campus, one or more of his recent posts may be worth your time.
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
In the vein of delineating the interference of government as it overflows its proper channels, flooding the countryside, here is a recent observation of Warren Meyer at Coyoteblog.com:
The similarity between the text of the recent NY report on fracking and the fictional state attack on Rearden Metal in Atlas Shrugged is just amazing.
Here is the cowardly State Science Institute report on Rearden Metal from Atlas Shrugged, where a state agency attempts to use vague concerns of unproven potential issues to ban the product for what are essentially political reasons (well-connected incumbents in the industry don’t want this sort of competition).
So he begins, and he ends:
Why is it the Left readily applies the (silly) precautionary principle to every new beneficial technology or business model but never applies it to sweeping authoritarian legislation (e.g. Obamacare)?
Going back to Meyers 12/11 Trend That is Not A Trend: Sexual Assaults On Campus, one or more of his recent posts may be worth your time.
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
coyoteblog.com using satire to help keep our perspective.
Somewhere under the mountains of legal rubble are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and somewhere in our hearts is a flame of moral rectitude that is the sine qua non, when burning brightly, to be a self-governing people, citizens of a constitutional, representative, republic founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Dont you think?
Merry Christmas to all who grace the posts and comments of TCP!!
See you in the New Year.
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
Yes….we heard the good comments like…yum, this is delicious, were can we get more and the profoundly important question, what is raw milk?
The comment that I heard over and over was this…”…I am over any milk! I am done with it” After hearing this a few times, I came to realize that pasteurization has deeply ruined the ” entire milk market “. People are just fed up with gas cramps, mucus production and allergies. ALL of these things directly related to processed pasteurized milk….and NONE of these things related to Clean Fresh Raw Milk!!! But how does a raw milk producer get past the ugly history of dead processed milk and what it has done to potential milk consumers? That’s a huge problem. A problem that processors do not have a clue how to fix.
For me…it was one on one counseling time with plenty of consumer investment and free samples, just to try and break through 75 years of bad gut news.
What a mess. Yes….a mess created by big lies & cheap, dirty, dead milk. This is a huge educational investment.
Thank you so much for your gift of spirit, knowledge and humor!
Farewell…
Mark, thanks for celebrating Jerry. I didn’t know him, but heard him speak once, and what he said has stuck with me for many years. He was an amazing teacher, and he will be sorely missed by many.