Once again, we learn the power of all those regulator warnings about the dangers of raw milk–they just seem to expand the market for raw milk and other dairy products.
According to Edwin Shank, owner of The Family Cow in Pennsylvania, which re-opened last week after being shuttered for three weeks when the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture found campylobacter in its raw milk: Last week was the busiest single week and greatest weekly sales in the history of The Family Cow!..Praise the Lord! Helps to make up for the last three! It seems like the more the regulators cry Wolf! the more our customers say Where? Wed like to buy a wolf! With love like that…we can do anything. Its why we love what we do!
The commitment of his dairys customers is especially gratifying, given what Shank says has been continual misrepresentation by regulators of the seriousness and true dimensions of any pathogen threat from his dairy. He is especially peeved about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control report on his dairy, which I described in my previous post, saying his dairy was responsible for 148 illnesses in early 2012.
There were 80 confirmed cases. The 148 is a magnified number by the CDC (now called associated cases) as they scramble to get the most mileage possible from Jan (2012). The 148 figure is arrived at when they add other possible cases of also-had-diarrhea-and-drank-Family-Cow-milk though it was not even confirmed that they had campy in their stool. I do not EVER recall possible cases or associated cases being reported in any other outbreak (and I read Food Safety News everyday!) …To me it is a clear case of intentional propaganda creep. CDC officially says it somewhere and soon everyone is repeating it and quoting CDC and neglecting to even note that that about half of these are only guesses.
Shank requested that I make it very clear as you write about the 80 campy cases over 18 months ago that this event was before The Family Cow had her own laboratory to do test and hold, pre-consumptive testing. We were at that time relying on PDAs type of testing and that is all post-consumptive testing. For more information on the early-2012 outbreak, Shank has reproduced newsletters he sent to customers at the time.
The shutdown of milk sales at The Family Cow last month, he says, was a regulatory issue/frustration and not an illness issue.
Finally, in response to at least one report, Shank asked me to make it clear that we DO NOT accuse the PDA of faking the positive August tests! We have never said that. We see the conflicting test results as frustrating, but just one of the facts of microbiology when the samples being tested have an almost undetectable, extremely minute, trace amounts whatever is being tested for.
**
There have been two very difficult situations involving children and raw milk that I want to report on. The first is a tragic case, involving a three-year-old girl, Kylee Young.
She became seriously ill from raw milk at Foundation Farm in Oregon, one of 19 who became sick in April 2012. Unlike most people who get sick from tainted food, she hasnt recovered well at all. She developed complications from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that included a stroke and, most recently, kidney failure, requiring her to go on dialysis.
On Monday, the little girls mother is donating a kidney for Kylee. The family has kept the matter private for the most part, and avoided getting into a public debate about raw milk safety. As I wrote in 2012, this situation apparently involved a farm that didnt have proper husbandry and sanitation practices in place. A real bad outcome for a family trying to access wholesome nutrient-dense food.
Now, the family needs financial help to deal with this catastrophic health problem. Id like to encourage people here to donate to help provide the family with food and other necessities as it goes through the surgeries and recovery. Background can be found at this Facebook page, and this one, along with opportunities for donating.
The second case involves a Maine infant, four-month-old Carson Gellerson, whose mom, Alorah, was put under the microscope and investigated for child abuse….all because she prepared an infant formula based on raw goats milk. The problem developed last month, when a Maine pediatrician she visited reported the mother to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services when she proudly told him how well Carson was doing with the formula. He had been born prematurely, and then the mother had been unable to breast feed.
The DHHS began an investigation, including having Carson examined by its doctors. The case was written up in a number of publications, and generated much debate, and outrage over parent rights. Supporters organized a protest in Maine yesterday that attracted about 40 supporters.
Last evening, the family had good news. The infants grandmother, Tania Allen, reported on Facebook: We are very happy to report that when we arrived home today from the rally, there was a letter from DHHS in the mailbox for Alorah and Dustin (the babys father), stating that they have closed the assessment involving Carson. There were no findings of abuse or neglect. We would like to thank DHHS for recognizing that he is indeed a healthy baby and that he is in good hands. We would like to thank them for their concerns and for a good outcome. We also would love to thank all of you for all of your support that you have given us over these past few weeks and for drawing attention to food freedom and parental rights!
Thank you for putting out information about the tragic story of Kylee.
As for knowing the outcome of any person who suffers from a foodborne illness, we just dont know that information. Unless a family comes forward with the details, it is unknown. You cant assume that most recover without any repercussions.
Since 2005, we do know that there have been 17 raw milk outbreaks involving the pathogen E.coli 0157:H7; 14 of these outbreaks we have data information on. We know that at least 107 people (the majority children) became ill with a Shiga toxin E.coli infection and that at least 39 were hospitalized and 25 developed HUS. 24 of the 25 were children under 18 years old, with the majority being under 10. WHAT WE DONT KNOW IS THE LONG TERM DAMAGE that was suffered by 25 that developed HUS.
How many of the 25 recovered full kidney function? How many have damage done to their pancreas? How many lost a portion or all of their colons? How many have cognitive defects after suffering seizures or strokes? This is the lost information in the outbreak reports.
I know some firsthand information because I have met and or have had contact with families who have suffered a negative experience after drinking raw milk.
1. The only adult that suffered HUS/TTP in the numbers, has permanent kidney damage and will someday probably need a kidney transplant.
2. One young girl had to have her gallbladder removed a few months after returning home from the hospital.
3. 2 young girls have permanent kidney damage and will someday probably need a kidney transplant.
4. Kylee was left partially paralyzed, unable to speak, eat and now will endure a kidney transplant.
5. For now, Chris has fully recovered, but has had challenges digesting fat. This is probably due to having suffered acute pancreatitis for 2 months.
I know information about 6 of the 25 who have developed HUS since 2005. It is not looking good for 5 of the 6. What about the other 19?
Mary
Mary, I made my reference to most people recovering from food-borne illness based on the CDC’s own illness estimates. According to CDC, .3 per cent of those who get sick each year (48 million) are hospitalized or die (128,000 hospitalized plus 3,000 deaths). That’s a very low percentage. I personally happen to think all the CDC data is way overstated, but that’s what the brightest minds in public health have come up with.
As for your anecdotal information, that’s what it is–anecdotal (or speculative). Anecdotal info, when presented about the benefits of raw milk on individuals’ health, is ridiculed by the masters of public health as anecdotal. I won’t ridicule what you are presenting, only suggest that what is needed here is some serious study, about both the risks associated with raw milk, and its benefits. As an example, in your list of cases, we don’t know that a food-borne illness led one individual to have her gall bladder removed, since gall bladder removal has become quite common, often from unknown causes. Such study has been completely resisted by the same masters of public health. Overcoming that resistance would be huge, would save lots of brickbats being thrown by both sides in this debate.
In outbreaks we tend to focus on what the food is rather than that the consumer/victim is part of our community. The food as the vector is in question but it’s never a question in a purported raw milk outbreak whether the victim is part of our community. I have been struck in the past by local churches and schools rallying around the victims — taking them meatloaf, doing their laundry, and helping with child care. Although we too are part of their community, albeit a dispersed community, we haven’t rallied here to support an outbreak victim to my knowledge, before now. This is our opportunity to send a virtual meatloaf to this family in need. There are credit card and paypal options.
Amanda
http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2013/09/06/does-living-in-a-healthy-environment-raise-your-risk-of-alzheimers-a-new-theory-says-yes/
In the past, the hygiene hypothesis has been studied in relation to allergies, asthma, and autoimmune conditions. According to Fox, We believe we can now add Alzheimers to this list of diseases.
Exposure to microbes is not only our best option; it is the only viable and sustainable one. Allergies, asthma, autoimmune conditions, acute life-threatening infections, and now Alzheimers are the predictable results of our contempt for the microbial world.
Ken
Not to downplay the tragedy of this, but you should also be giving appropriate and proportional details on what befell children who got sick from other food sources, from second-hand cigarette smoke, traffic accidents caused by their parents, injuries inflicted by animals owned by their parents, etc.
Also, as none of the reports re outbreaks bother to distinguish if the milk was “industrial milk” produced by methods intended for pasteurization/processing (“IPP milk” – and yes even small farms can be producing industrial milk if they don’t know what they’re doing) or whether it was fresh milk produced by methods intended for direct human consumption, outbreak data can’t be trusted. The confounding variable of HOW the milk was produced is never disclosed by health agencies.
Shawna, well said. It’s nearly impossible to read about Kylee and view the photos of her on Facebook, and not be deeply affected by what happened to her. Yet despite the human tragedy, it’s a difficult subject to discuss here–without worrying about the modifiers and background provided– precisely because the subject of raw milk has become so terribly politicized. As you say, when a similar tragedy is caused by factory food, the politicization seems to be removed, because our masters of public health have determined that illnesses from factory food are just part of life’s risks.
How is “IPP” milk related to Pasteurized Milk Ordinance milk (PMO milk)?
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
The thing about fluid raw milk is that there are 3 different pathogens causing outbreaks. With Campy you have the largest # of illnesses, but less serious illnesses, unless of course you are one of the lucky ones to get GBS. With E.coli the number of illnesses is lower, but the illnesses are more serious. Since 1998, there have been only 6 raw milk outbreaks involving Salmonella, but the number of illnesses is equal to E.coli.
But when the CDC data is looked at, all the pathogens are put in the same pot. Nadine even said in her presentation that the data wouldnt mean the same thing if there was a vulnerable group getting sick. The vulnerable group is children and the pathogen is Shiga producing E.coli.
A HUS support group for moms who have had children suffer HUS was created a few days ago. It already has 15 members. The stories are heartbreaking and the damage for some severe. Another little girl will be having a kidney transplant next month and her father will be the donor.
Regardless of how an E.coli infection is transmitted (food, water, petting zoo or secondary infections) once HUS develops it is a very serious situation and post HUS is not all is well for many. Some sort of permanent damage is done. Since 2005, we have 19 children who have developed HUS after drinking contaminated raw milk that we dont know any information about. How many of the 19 have sad post HUS stories? How many of their parents knew E.coli contamination was a risk when they bought the milk? If it is being promoted as a healthy food, the risk also needs to be addressed and not the way Beals, Kresser and Ijaz are doing it.
I have said many times that there is much we don’t know about foodborne illness. So it’s great that you are assembling data about an aspect of foodborne illness we definitely know little about. As for the 19 HUS stories, I would like to know more about the farms the milk came from. We know that a sizable percentage came from two farms–Foundation Farm (two or more in 2012) and Organic Pastures (two in 2006). We know that Organic Pastures has taken significant steps since 2006 to correct problems that may have led to the outbreak. Foundation Farm isn’t producing milk any more. Anything about other farms? What about geographic particulars? Did a large number occur in one or two areas of the country? Any message there?
A lot depends on how you use your knowledge. Do you use it to expand the propaganda campaign against raw milk? Or do you take the attitude that this is a potentially manageable problem? Nineteen HUS cases in nine years averages out to about two cases a year. Imagine if we could identify specific characteristics about the causes of these cases, and reduce the number even further, The Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI) is a step in that direction, it would seem. Maybe there are other things we can find.
Also, you reference the good that came of it when I started the Oregon Raw Milk Producers Assoc. soon after the E coli oubreak. We hold trainings every quarter and in about an hour start our second day of training, the 4th set of seminars we’ve had since last summer.
I’ve uncovered 200 raw milk producers in Oregon and today we have 35 of them at our farm, learning as much as possible, and building on what they’ve learned over the past year. It’s wonderful progress, and every training brings up this tragedy and the reverence we must maintain for our job of producing raw milk.
And the pool of milk in Oregon gets better and better, and now there’s a resource for producers in Oregon who need immediate help in any area of raw milk production. We are trying to make sure a tragedy like Kylee’s illness never happens again in our state.
And our group today is praying for success and quick healing for Kylee and her mother’s operation tomorrow. This little girl has suffered tremendously, daily, for so long.
This is not an easy task gathering this data. I have put everything into an excel spread sheet. This is what I’m attempting to collect data on:
Year, Month, State, Name of Farm, Type (retail, herdshare, etc), Animal (cow, goat), found match on farm, found match in milk, # ill, lab confirmed, secondary infection, Drank milk at a friends house, age range of ill, median age, # hospitalized, % hospitalized, age of hospitalized, # with HUS, # under 18 with HUS, HUS, but not cultured confirmed for E.coli, age with HUS, required dialysis, # of day on dialysis, Days in hospital with HUS.
The challenge is that all state reports are not written the same.
I keep hearing from the pro raw milk side that illnesses are not serious from raw milk. I just question the validity of that statement. When Ted Beals is an expert witness for raw milk he states the worse that can happen is a little vomiting and diarrhea. The reports I’m reading indicate it is a little more serious than that.
Mary, you are misinterpreting what I said. When I referred to a “manageable problem,” I meant, as I said a couple sentences later, “Imagine if we could identify specific characteristics about the causes of these cases, and reduce the number even further.” In other words, have fewer HUS cases, and maybe even eliminate them altogether as our knowledge expands. I haven’t said these illnesses aren’t serious. I can’t speak for Ted Beals any more than you can speak for John Sheehan of the FDA. I have suggested using your data (and presumably other data, the experiences of RAWMI, etc.) to identify milk production problems, trends, to reduce the illnesses. Isn’t that what you want? Or do you know what you want?
The investigation of Carson Gellerson is outrageous. I’m glad a potentially traumatic situation was averted, but this sounds like all too close a call.
But that is changing, and stories like this, while hard for the family to be sure, do help. Our family doctor, once a skeptic of real-food baby formulas, has now become a believer as he has seen the health of adopted infants in his practice turn around when fed raw milk or meat-based formulas a la Nourishing Traditions. We even have cow-owning, raw milk ethusiasts working for WIC in our county (Women, Infant and Children….the governement “nutrition” program that gives away tons of commercial formula and pasteurized milk products). They can’t WAIT for a time that raw milk formula is available to the masses. They see the negative health results of pasteurized cow milk or soy formulas far too often…children with asthma, eczema, food allergies, digestive disorders, autism, ADHD….
I agree. Very inspiring. It’s the kind of data and information sharing that enlightens farmers and consumers alike. The sort of research Mary McGonigle-Martin is undertaking could be similarly enlightening, another piece of a complex puzzle essential to reducing the risks around raw milk production. All this is threatening to the big dairy oligopoly and the government regulators that work to protect it–they are counting on continuing ignorance to help promote the illness issue.
Imagine for a moment that Bill Marler, John Sheehan, the entire FDA dairy division, USDA, CDFA, NCIMS, each states dairy regulator community….all decided that raw milk was important for America and that standards, inspections, financial support and better rules needed to be placed in force immediately….can you imagine the resources, the meetings, the university outreach, the research, the instant pathogen testing technology that would miraculously appear in just a few months? We can put a man on the moon, we can put a cruise missile with in 10 feet of any place on earth…but we do not care to acknowledge the damage done by the continued production of the MOST allergenic food in America. This entire project instead has been placed on the minds and hearts of people like Charlotte, Shawna, Christine and others that care to research investigate, test, invest and lead. Ed Shank has done much to advance raw milk food safety with his open learning,peace making mindset.
If pasteurized milk was so great….why is it that it is dying in the market place??
It also appears that kidney failure is worse than death. The emotional emphasis on Kylee is heart felt, but it is entirely distracting from the 80 funerals caused directly by pasteurized milk since 1972.
I do not in any way to belittle Kylee…..what happened to her was and is horrible. We all feel it….we all acknowledge it…we are all morally motivated by it.
Where is the moral compass on John Sheehans desk? Defending dirty dead highly allergenic pasteurized milk as the only option for Americas moms and families is morally reprehensible. Where is the acknowledgement of the EU studies that shown and prove that raw milk prevents and even treats Asthma? Asthma kills more than 3500 kids every year in the USA.
This conversation must turn to the greater good and the bigger picture of immunity and societies overall health. This conversation can not stay focused on a single tragedy that we know can be prevented by RAWMI standards.
Mary…if coliforms are less than 1 and ecoli 0157h7 is in the coliform family….how could it ever be possible for raw milk to ever cause HUS. The fact of he mater is that it is practically impossible. There is no load even if that load is very low. My CDFA inspectors even said this to me….maybe some other pathogen but not Ecoli. If you review the RAWMI coliform numbers you will find most in the zero levels ( with spikes to 3 or 4 with great exception ). This is where the energy, the investment and the support should be spent.
We have heroes among us….it is the spirit of he farmer working tirelessly in his service to his consumer that is making the only investment I can see anywhere. Shortly, I think I may be able to add researchers from UC Davis to this list, but not quite yet.
These are brave times. I feel for all babies….I am committed to a better future for all families and their farmers. Can the FDA say this? Certainly not, they sit by and watch 80 pasteurized milk consumers die and farmers go bankrupt while they embrace 100 year old solutions to 100 year old problems and perpetuate problems we know are associated directly with pasteurized milk and they do nothing but condemn pioneers that seek out solutions.
I write this post from a hill town in Italy. The priorities are so different than in my blessed money driven home sweet home.
Ken
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Highest regards,
Jim Ellingso
I am proud to say that the risk is right at zero.
Eight children have died since 1998 from allergic reactions to perfectly pasteurized milk….
Lets start talking about support for RAWMI and its mission. Why….because the coliform numbers that have come from the last 14 months of all LISTED dairymen have been less than 3 a few times and zero the rest of the time. These numbers far exceed any safety requirements provided by five log pasteurization protections especially when considering all of the funerals and allergies associated with processed milk. Think of all of the excema relieved by raw milk and triggered by pasteurized milk. Excema can be socially debilitating and worse. Raw milk is a direct treatment….no side effects.
And David you are certainly correct that the data the “other side” collects is vital to the conversation here, thanks Mary kill them with love. Back to my cave.
new word just for the hell of it: http://www.dairyuoligopolygovernmenregulator.com IS AVAILABLE, 10% commission
Have a nice
Keep on keeping on, we need it.
All raw milk dairies need to monitor a background illness indicator like school absentees. Knowing how many raw milk drinkers in an area get diarrhea in a three month period is irrelevant unless you know how many non-raw milk drinkers in that area got diarrhea over that same period. If they do this they can determine how many cases they have prevented during an outbreak of malnutrition, toxic exposure, and malpractice.
I agree it’s a good idea to teach farmer how to produce milk for raw consumption. I concede that denying all of the CDC’s claims could get you labelled a denialist but is it necessary to promote them? I quote There were 80 confirmed cases. The 148 is a magnified number by the CDC (now called associated cases) I don’t need to know anything about this case to know there were no confirmed cases. There never are and there never will be. If there were such a test don’t you think they would have used it by now? Beside you can’t confirm the imposable and you can’t prevent a hangover by wearing red socks. These 80 cases are either guesses based solely on association or complete fabrication based on association. The only thing that can be confirmed is that they had campy in their stool. Even if you could confirm the cause it appears no one has ever bothered. Is this propaganda creep? The CDC officially infers it somewhere and soon everyone is saying it as though it were a fact.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/262894.php
Yes some do become very dangerous in their quest to survive the toxic effect of vaccines, antibiotics, as well as a plethora of drugs and chemicals.
Farmers, who adopt RawMI type programs, will be faced with ever increasing hurdles by bureaucratic and industry juggernauts who use societies stereotyped irrational fear driven obsession with microorganisms as a means to control and manipulate the dairy industry.
Going out of ones way to produce clean milk is admirable, and hopefully Mark is correct in his belief that RawMI will usurp the bureaucratic assault on our free will to choose and nurture a positive change in attitude.
Ken
Cleaning off your childs pacifier by sucking on it?
I habitually used to suck on the nipple of the baby bottle before I fed them their raw cows milk.
When they were infants I used to strap the babies to the front of me in the baby carrier and took them with me to get the cows morning and evening. After which they spent the rest of their time with me in the stable while I milked the cows.
After nine children I can say with certainty that they were none the worse for wear.
Ken
Saliva is also an important source of enzymes for predigesting food, and anything that plays a positive role in digestion is good for the immune system.
http://www.atoneonline.com/blog/2011/the-relationship-between-enzymes-and-antibiotics/
Ken
We have utterly lost our macro-observation skills, our patience, even our faith in creation. We see only our narrow little worlds, and have no interest in context. That is our problem. Listen to Tolstoy (from War and Peace):
A bee settling on a flower has stung a child. And the child is afraid of bees and declares that bees exist to sting people. A poet admires the bee sucking from the chalice of a flower and says it exists to suck the fragrance of flowers. A beekeeper, seeing the bee collect pollen from flowers and carry it to the hive, says that it exists to gather honey. Another beekeeper who has studied the life of the hive more closely says that the bee gathers pollen dust to feed the young bees and rear a queen, and that it exists to perpetuate its race. A botanist notices that the bee flying with the pollen of a male flower to a pistil fertilizes the latter, and sees in this the purpose of the bee’s existence. Another, observing the migration of plants, notices that the bee helps in this work, and may say that in this lies the purpose of the bee. But the ultimate purpose of the bee is not exhausted by the first, the second, or any of the processes the human mind can discern. The higher the human intellect rises in the discovery of these purposes, the more obvious it becomes, that the ultimate purpose is beyond our comprehension.
If we cannot imagine a principle bigger than a petrie dish, we are doomed.
I miss your prose. You write about life’s purpose and design with great and objective vision. Please write more. Thank you….
Your multi lensed comment on Bees really hit home with me.
In the real world, we all live in our own petrie dishes and for most it’s hard to see beyond that. .. and painful. You can’t be the bee, the flower, the guy examining the microscope, and the kid getting stung all at the same time. They are various stages we morph through. Butterflies are beautiful unless they land on tour butter.
To bee or not to bee, that is the question. Human existence and our food supply are on the line. But we have not entirely lost the overall faith in science, only the bought and paid for science, as brother Lennon would say you count me out. Good luck to the survivors.
Our fearlessness when it comes to toxic chemicals and drugs to for that matter, is like a chimp putting a pistol in his mouth and playing with the trigger.
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/09/epa-okays-bpa-disses-publics-right-to.html