More dangers or raw milk

Two news stories show up today on the dangers of raw milk radar. Though there are some benefits (as described in earlier posts) as of now I cannot recommend raw milk to anyone other than healthy adults because of the dangers associated with the product. Even then there is an increased level of risk. The jury is out as the whether the benefits from raw milk might not be gotten from other foods in the diet that are not as potentially dangerous.


Items:
Rare Form of Tuberculosis Reappears in California / findingDulcinea

A nearly obsolete strain of TB crops up among Hispanic immigrants consuming unpasteurized dairy products.

Couple Admits To Distributing E. coli-Tainted Milk - News Story - KIRO Seattle

COWLITZ COUNTY, Wash. -- A Cowlitz County couple has pleaded guilty to distributing milk responsible for an E. coli outbreak in Washington and Oregon in 2005.

Raw Milk Health Advisories: December

TOPEKA | Raw milk sickens 87 in Kansas

Saying at least 87 people in Kansas have been sickened by bacteria found in raw milk, health officials are warning residents not to consume raw milk or products made from it.

In Kearny County, 68 people became ill after eating cheese made from milk donated by a local dairy for a community celebration. The second outbreak was linked to a dairy in south-central Kansas that sells raw milk to consumers.

More:
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/391699.html

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Raw Milk Health Advisories: November 2007 - 2

A second raw milk health advisory again from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

According to state.pa.us, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture has once again announced a recall regarding raw milk. The warning is for anyone who has purchased raw milk from the Conebella dairy farm in Elverson, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

From: Associated Content

The Penn Dept of Ag puts out by far the most of these sorts of warnings (check out previous posts on this subject and you'll see that maybe two were not from them). Seems that raw milk sellers in Pennsylvania are under the microscope, so to speak.

Raw Milk Health Advisories: November 2007

Agriculture Department Warns Consumers of Tainted Raw Milk Sold by Chester County Dairy

    HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumers who have
purchased raw milk from the Conebella dairy farm in Elverson, Chester
County, any time after Oct. 23, should discard it immediately due to the
risk of Salmonellosis contamination, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff
said today.
   Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized.
   "During routine inspection of the dairy, a preliminary test showed the
presence of Salmonella bacteria in some raw milk samples," said Wolff. "If
consumers have raw milk from this farm, they should discard it
immediately."
   No illnesses have been reported as a result of the potential
contamination but if people who consumed the raw milk become ill, they
should consult their physicians.
   The Department of Agriculture has suspended sales of raw milk at the
dairy and is requiring corrective action be taken. Samples were taken from
the farm during routine testing on Nov. 13, and tested positive for
Salmonella on Nov. 16.
   Multiple laboratory samples must test negative before sales can resume.
   Symptoms of Salmonellosis include fever, abdominal pain and
gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea. Symptoms usually
appear six to 72 hours after consuming contaminated food.

From
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-16-2007/0004707588&EDATE=

More good news on Omega-3s

From the website Food Navigator USA we find out that a recent study has found that omega-3 supplementation could be more useful at preventing colorectal cancer than the currently available suite of drugs used to treat the disease. At least this is true for mice.

Colorectal cancer is the #2 killer from cancers in the U.S. Finding alternatives to current colorectal cancer drugs is important due to reported side-effect from long-term use.

The report adds more evidence to the anti-cancer effect of omega-3 and is the second study in the space of a week which adds support to the role of the oil as suppressing tissue inflammation.

This study also points to the importance of not only increasing omega-3s but in reducing one's omega-6 intake. Though omega-6s are an essential fatty acid we get them in abundance from our diet. Some research has shown that have a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3s that is too high can increase your risk of inflammation which has been associated with many diseases.





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Raw Milk Health Advisories: July 2007

July 24, 2007

Raw milk sickens three Georgia families
Raw milk sold as pet food sickened three northwest Georgia families who drank the milk this summer, sending at least one child to the hospital, health officials said Monday.

Story

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State tells Stump Acres Dairy to stop raw milk giveaway
The state Department of Health told Stump Acres Dairy last week to stop giving away raw milk to the public following continuing cases of salmonella that has now been linked to the milk.

The Stump family, of New Salem, had been selling the milk until, on two occasions earlier this year, the department had asked it to stop sales. Then the dairy decided to give the milk away free to customers.

Story

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July 30, 2007

Autumn Valley Farm today alerted consumers of possible Listeria contamination in its "unpasteurized" raw farm milk.

Story

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Raw Milk and Health

Got Bootleg Milk?

I have no problem with people deciding on their own if they want to have raw milk or not. What I don't like is the cloak of misinformation and paranoia that surrounds the raw milk advocates. Take for example this post by Gene Logsdon in the "Organic To Be" blog.

Seems Mr. Logsdon grew-up drinking raw milk and he's just fine. In fact he's better than fine. Good teeth and bones despite ware and healthy blood work to boot despite a butter/meat/dairy habit that would drive a conventional doctor/nutritionist bonkers (never mind that it may be Mr. Logsdon's genetics rather than his diet that makes him so healthy). Seems we always get these sorts of down-home tales when someone is trying to sell us something (like Fred Thompson... But I digress).

I am very happy for Mr. Logsdon but there are many people who have been sickened by raw milk. You can go down the list in this blog and see yourself that there have been six separate events (with many people involved in each event) since May of this year. This is not to say that people should not drink raw milk. There is some evidence that raw milk is more beneficial than is pasteurized milk 1, 2. But I would love to see the raw milk advocates also mention the higher risks involved when choosing to do so rather than give us a homespun story about how safe it is.

But if how wonderfully healthy raw milk is, is not enough to convince you to switch then for a kicker we get a bit of paranoia into the mix. Seems that the anti-raw milk people (the all pervasive and powerful pasteurization industry) wants to squash raw milk at every turn. I'll suggest that perhaps there is an alternative reason for the "anti-raw milk police". Perhaps, just perhaps there are well meaning health departments and law makers who have the statistics on illness associated with raw milk and have decided it is an easily defeated public health risk. A public health risk that is removed with a simple step of pasteurization. It may well be that with more information on the health benefits of raw milk the actions of the public health officials may be misguided but one need not build a great conspiracy to see why we have the laws we do.

Personally I'd like to see raw milk made available everywhere with the condition that a "black box" warning be placed clearly on any container. I'd also like to see if there are alternatives to raw milk, such as omega-3s, that provide the same health benefits without the risks.

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