Page 91 - Summer2008

This is a modern day example of sacricing our The Weston A. Price Foundation has It is
children on the altar of Baal. presented to the Committee a slide-by-slide re-
The 10 coliform standard is a “test of steril- sponse to this document. In it, Mr. Sheehan cites inappropriate
ity,” designed not to ensure the cleanliness of a 15 studies to support his statement that “drinking to use a “test
farm but to verify the effectiveness of a process- raw milk is like playing Russian roulette with of sterility”
ing facility. The Pasteurized Milk Ordinance your health.” In analyzing these studies blaming
allows 100,000 coliforms per ml in raw milk milk for illness, we found that not one of them on raw milk,
from the dairy farm. This 10 coliform standard proved that pasteurization would have prevented which is
was not designed to test the cleanliness of a farm, the illness. In almost half the studies, Mr. Shee- not a sterile
but the effectiveness of the sterilization process han misrepresents the conclusions of the study
at the milk processing plant. and in fully 80 percent of the studies, there was product,
It is inappropriate to use a “test of sterility” no valid positive milk sample to implicate raw but a
on raw milk, which is not a sterile product, but milk. One-third of the studies ignore other more probiotic
a probiotic product. Non-pathogenic coliforms probable vectors of disease in what constitutes
are what consumers are seeking when they clear examples of bias. In one of the studies, the product.
choose a raw milk product. Coliforms protect us “outbreak” blamed on raw milk did not even ex-
against pathogens and produce many important ist. The public deserves better from our public
nutrients in the digestive tract. They are our servants.
friends, not our enemies, and they are being Lately, we have seen many reports in the
increasingly used by doctors to treat everything media about outbreaks attributed to raw milk.
from intestinal problems to wounds. Obviously On inspection, we  nd the same clear pattern of

it is unscientic to claim, as our opponents do, bias, double standard and possibly even fraud
that these same coliforms in milk are dangerous. regarding these reports. The modus operandi is
The medical paradigm has changed; germs are as follows:
no longer the enemy.
You have, of course heard many arguments • When testing raw milk, use cultures to
painting raw milk as a deadly poison, one that promote pathogen multiplication and highly

has no health benets. These arguments can only sensitive milk testing techniques that nd

be made on the basis of extreme bias against raw pathogens in extremely small numbers,
milk, found in numerous articles published in the levels that would not cause illness. (Any
scientic literature and on government websites. substance you test will show pathogens if

The committee needs to be aware of the double the test is sensitive enough.)
standard applied to raw milk compared to other • Use new rapid testing techniques developed
foods. The most glaring example of this double for the food industry, which tend to nd false

standard can be found in the FDA Powerpoint positives. This method is currently being
presentation on raw milk prepared by Mr. John used in Pennsylvania to harass raw milk
Sheehan, posted at realmilk.com. dairies, nding pathogens and rescinding

RAW MILK AND THE FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is becoming an increasing threat to raw milk consumers and their
freedom of food choice. Because FDA’s warnings on the dangers of consuming raw milk are not having as great an impact
on consumer demand as they once did, the agency is now making a more concerted effort to stop the supply of raw
milk, thus effectively denying consumer freedom of choice. An aide to Congressman Ron Paul was told earlier in the
year by a congressional liaison for FDA that raw milk is a “high priority” with the agency—this while recalls of industrial
food products continue unabated and over 100,000 people a year die from “properly” prescribed pharmaceutical drugs.
Whether through making criminal referrals to US Attorneys or pushing state departments of agriculture to take action
against the distribution of raw milk, the agency is pressing its agenda. In written testimony submitted to the Health and
Government Operations Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates on March 15, 2007, John F. Sheehan (Director
of FDA’s Division of Plant and Dairy Food Safety) stated, “Raw milk should not be consumed by anyone, at any time, for
any reason.” FDA would like to impose this belief on us all.

SUMMER 2008 Wise Traditions 89