FDA raids Amish Farm

[PaulaJoAnne]

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That would be real cool if you could do testing like that! Did your BF drink actual grassfed milk? Or was it from a cow fed grain?
Just curious.....

We want our own cow, but the issues of getting it bred are more then I want to deal with.
We will likely be getting Nigerian Dwarfs as soon as we have the land.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
That would be real cool if you could do testing like that! Did your BF drink actual grassfed milk? Or was it from a cow fed grain?
Just curious.....

We want our own cow, but the issues of getting it bred are more then I want to deal with.
We will likely be getting Nigerian Dwarfs as soon as we have the land.

Extra milk? Can you say cheese

Say, are you anywhere near Prescott per chance?

 

[claud]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081216161100.htm

Just some info.....

I think it's ok for adults to choose to drink raw milk. I DO think that there should be warnings on labels of products with unpasteurized milk informing the buyer of the possible risk of pathogens.

Yes, pasteurized milk spoils but what spoils the milk isn't necessarily going to cause severe illness and death. What we must consider the most are the PATHOGENS in raw milk such as Camplyobactor, Listeria, Salmonella and E. Coli(particularly 0157:H7). These pathogens make adults very sick but they KILL young children.

There just is no way I would risk giving my young child unpasteurized milk products. I don't think raw milk is a "magic pill" for ailments therefore choosing pasteurized milk is a no-brainer for me. There are documented cases of illness from raw milk. Denying this discredits the arguments.

I know this won't change any minds here but I think people should be informed and THEN they can make their choice.

I think we are blessed to be able to have safe food in our country and to be able to make the choices we do.

 

[Ferrret]

Where I will be living is about an hour and a half south of there, about 90 miles. Currently I'm a bit farther north by about 118 miles.
I'll be living in a subdivision so I'm pretty sure even a mini cow would be frowned upon. BF's friend has some farm land but he also have quite a few goats and a donkey. He did have a cow for a while, from what I'm told, but with working and going back to college he doesn't have a lot of time. Even now he has someone check in from time to time on his animals when he can't be there.

BF didn't say if the cow was grain or grass fed, but most farms here are small and cows are usually grass fed until winter hits and the grass is covered in snow. He might just be outright allergic to milk, but I'm not sure, because he eats yogurt and cheese all the time. The one selling point to convince him to get a cow would probably be making cheese. I could always use some for baking and cooking, but cows make an awful lot of milk.
Getting the cow bred would be an issue, especially if it's an uncommon breed. Then there is finding a home for the calf, unless you have the land to raise it long enough for butcher. I'm not a veal fan, so it would have to be an adult for me. If I got a full sized cow, I would want a Panda cow!

You are sure to find plenty of farms all around Michigan. Prescott looks like it is just around the boarder between the metropolitan area of the Lower Peninsula and Northern Michigan (not to be confused with the U.P). Don't be too shocked if someone points to the back of their hand when you ask where they are from!

claud - Growing up on raw milk, I didn't has issues with illness, but I know what you are saying. My Grandfather too excellent care of his cows and made sure they were all healthy and made safe to drink milk. Some farmers don't for whatever reason. People should get as much information on the product they wish to consume and where it comes from, before running off and chowing down. People also need to consider if they are making a drastic diet change, as that can have serious ill effects on the body. There are documented cases of illness on both sides and no consumer product will ever be a "magic pill".

I agree that people shouldn't jump in feet first as a flying cannon ball. Test the waters first to see if you might get hurt.

 

[claud]

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I think they call those Oreo Cookie cows - very cute! If I raised a cow from a baby like that I could never eat it! Too cute!

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

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I think they call those Oreo Cookie cows - very cute! If I raised a cow from a baby like that I could never eat it! Too cute!

Its a Dutch Belted! Excellent cows, for sure!

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

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We will be moving onto family property, with lots of room, and lots of garden space! And I know exactly where it is on my hand

If your BF can eat cultured dairy, he more then likely has a gut that is "off". This can be righted by consuming good probiotic cultured raw dairy. Raw yogurt and raw kefir.
Its the result of consuming dead sterile milk. Something that has rendered a huge percentage of our modern population lactose intolerant

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

This may be helpful...

In a 2003 USDA/FDA report:

Deli meats caused 515 times more illness from listeria than raw milk
Pasteurized milk caused 29 times more illness from listeria than raw milk

On a PER-SERVING BASIS, deli meats were TEN times more likely to cause illness than raw milk.

FDA: “Raw milk is inherently dangerous and should not be consumed”

Where are the FDA’s charges that deli meats are “inherently dangerous and should not be consumed? Where is the FDA’s exhortation to “everyone charged with protecting the publish health” to “prevent the sale of deli meats to consumers”?

In a response to a Freedom of Information request, the Centers for Disease Control provided data on raw milk outbreaks 1993-2005—a 23-year period.

In this report, CDC listed NO cases of foodborne illness from raw milk caused by listeria during the period.

The CDC listed NO cases of foodborne illness from raw milk caused by listeria for the past 23 years.

Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has suspended sales of several dairies and issued inflammatory press releases, claiming listeria monocytogenes in the milk.

Independent tests have shown NO listeria in the milk and in all cases sales were resumed. There were no illnesses.

Is the PDA trying to falsely build a case that listeria is a problem in raw milk?

Raw Milk Safety in California

Since 1999:

40 million servings of Organic Pastures raw milk, not one reported illness; in 1,300 tests, no human pathogens ever found in the milk, or even in the manure on the farm.

19 recalls of pasteurized milk products during the same period.

Studies show that factory-farmed cattle have 300 times more pathogenic bacteria in their digestive tracts than cattle that are allowed to openly graze in pastures.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

U.S. government documented outbreaks of food-borne illness from pasteurized milk for Ted Elkins, Deputy Director for Maryland’s Office of Food Protection and Consumer Health Services.

Here is that list:

1945—1,492 cases for the year in the US
1945—1 outbreak, 300 cases in Phoenix, Arizona.
1945—Several outbreaks, 468 cases of gastroenteritis, 9 deaths, in Great Bend, Kansas
1976—Outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica in 36 children, 16 of whom had appendectomies, due to pasteurized chocolate milk
1978—1 outbreak, 68 cases in Arizona
1982—over 17,000 cases of Yersinia enterocolitica in Memphis, TN
1982—172 cases, with over 100 hospitalized from a three-Southern-state area.
1983—1 outbreak, 49 cases of Listeriosis in Massachusetts
1984—August, 1 outbreak S. typhimurium, approximately 200 cases, at one plant in Melrose Park, IL
1984—November, 1 outbreak S. typhimurium, at same plant in Melrose Park, IL
1985—March, 1 outbreak, 16,284 confirmed cases, at same plant in Melrose Park, IL
1985—197,000 cases of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella infections from one dairy in California
1985—1,500+ cases, Salmonella culture confirmed, in Northern Illinois
1987—Massive outbreak of over 16,000 culture-confirmed cases of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella typhimurium traced to pasteurized milk in Georgia
1993—2 outbreaks statewide, 28 cases Salmonella infection
1994—3 outbreaks, 105 cases, E. Coli & Listeria in California
1993-1994—outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis in over 200 due to pasteurized ice cream in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin
1995—1 outbreak, 3 cases in California
1995—outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica in 10 children, 3 hospitalized due to post-pasteurization contamination
1996—2 outbreaks Campylobactor and Salmonella, 48 cases in California
1997—2 outbreaks, 28 cases Salmonella in California

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Pathogens Can Multiply in Pasteurized Milk and Other Foods but Not in Raw Milk

Campylobacter in chilled raw milk (4o C):
Day 0 = 13,000,000/ml
Day 9 = less than 10/ml (1)

Campylobacter in body temperature raw milk (37o C):

Bovine strains decreased by 100 cells/ml in 48 hrs
Poultry strains decreased by 10,000 cells/ml in 48 hrs (2)

Note that the protective components work more quickly to reduce levels of pathogens in warm milk than in chilled milk.

1. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1982;44(5):1154-58
2. Mikrobiyolji Bul,1987:21(3):200-5