Pasteurized Milk Kills Three People

[Guest guest]

I'm sure you've all heard about this already. The dairy involved has closed down and won't be reopening. The following article was posted on another list this morning.

 

Cyndi

 

 

From Dr. William Campbell Douglass, MDBacteria-contaminated pasteurized milk kills 3 people Dear Friend, I don't like to use a tragedy to make my point, but something awful happened in New England recently that I have to point out. Apparently, bacteria-contaminated milk caused one miscarriage and the deaths of three elderly men. The killer milk came from the widely respected Whittier Farms Dairy, which has a herd of hormone-free cows, and uses glass bottles for their milk. It would fit the FDA's story line perfectly if these awful events were caused by the consumption of raw milk. But no – the bacteria-contaminated milk had been pasteurized. This means that pasteurized milk is responsible for more deaths last year than raw milk, yet it's raw milk that's been widely vilified and is on the verge of being legislated out of existence. The bacteria that's to blame for the deaths is listeria. Anti-raw milk folks are quick to point out that listeria only shows up in pasteurized milk on incredibly rare occasions. What they won't tell you is that listeria is just about as rare in raw milk. What's more, milk isn't the only place you'll find the bacterium – this nasty little bacteria can pop up in almost any uncooked meat or produce. In fact, it can even be found in cold cuts and some cheeses. The fact is, this is the THIRD listeria outbreak that's been connected to pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is supposed to make foods listeria-free. Obviously, that's not always the case. How badly do you think Big Dairy would like to sweep this story under the rug? It's incredibly ironic that this has happened to a pasteurizing dairy rather than a raw-milk dairy. This sort of thing is only supposed to happen with raw milk! I'm not sure who this story upsets more – the FDA, the anti-raw-milk lobbyists of Big Dairy, or the poor, organic dairies who are prevented from marketing their raw milk products – which have RARELY been found to have potentially deadly pathogens such as listeria, E. coli, or salmonella. As you probably already know, I'm a huge raw milk advocate. It's chock-full of calcium, vitamin D, lactoferrins (natural antibiotics, and other good stuff). I've written on more than one occasion of the struggles of both the consumers and producers of raw-milk, and how overzealous FDA regulation of the product is driving raw-milk fans underground. It's my hope that raw-milk dairies and lobbies can use this incidentto point out that their product is just as safe (if not safer) than pasteurized milk … and get the FDA and state regulators to ease up on the incredibly restrictive raw-milk laws. I know … I won't hold my breath.

 

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