Page 99 - summer2016

A Campaign for Real Milk

BOGUS ACCUSATIONS THAT RAW MILK CAUSED ILLNESS
By Pete Kennedy, Esq.

As demand for raw milk has increased, discouraging legislators in other states from
greater numbers of people in recent years have voting for pending raw milk legislation; raw
ignored the warnings of the U.S. Centers for milk supporters were worried about the story
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the killing bills they were working on.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The problem was that none of the media
state public health agencies and their lackeys reporting on the illnesses had bothered to check
in the mainstream media about the health risks the evidence on the source of the outbreak.
of consuming the product. If they had, they would have learned that the
With more states legalizing raw milk sales stomach flu was going through the legislature
and raw milk access increasing, the opposition and capitol city. Legislators who did not drink
has resorted more to shoddy science, abandon- the milk were getting sick, and some even be-
ment of due diligence in investigations, and the came ill before the celebration took place. One
loss of whatever integrity it has left in trying to delegate who did drink raw milk and was hos-
blame foodborne illness on raw milk consump- pitalized was told it was a stomach virus. About
tion. Two great examples of this have occurred a month after the media headlines blaring that A Campaign
in recent months regarding foodborne illness raw milk caused an illness outbreak, the West for Real Milk
outbreaks allegedly caused by raw milk con- Virginia Department of Health and Human Re- is a project of
sumption in West Virginia and a “multi-state” sources issued a press release on its investigation the Weston A.
outbreak attributed to the consumption of raw into the illnesses stating, “Three ill persons went
milk products produced by the Pennsylvania- to an urgent care or emergency room. Based on Price
based dairy Miller’s Organic Farm. record review, three patients reported raw milk Foundation.
On March 3, 2016, West Virginia Governor consumption. No ill persons required overnight To obtain
Earl Ray Tomblin signed into law a bill that le- hospitalization. No milk was available for test- some of our
galized raw milk distribution through herdshare ing. Because of the limitations of this investi- informative
agreements. The new law was a huge setback for gation, no conclusions can be drawn about the
the raw milk opposition; West Virginia previ- extent of illness, etiologic agent, or the mode of Real Milk
ously had the most draconian laws in the country transmission.” brochures,
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on the books, prohibiting the sales of raw milk Kelli Sobonya of the West Virginia House of contact the
for both human and pet consumption as well Delegates summed up the reaction to the media’s Foundation at
as banning herdshares. Shortly after Tomblin behavior: “People I speak with are disappointed (202)
signed the bill, some West Virginia legislators with the media doing a report on a rumor. Had 363-4394.
celebrated by drinking raw milk; subsequently, they dug deep enough they would have learned
several of those legislators became sick and of the numerous legislators who were victims Check out our
that’s when the media went into overdrive. of the stomach virus. . . No wonder people are website,
Reports on the legislators’ illness were tuning the news out and no longer tuning in. RealMilk.com
not only circulated around the state but also Universities should start re-emphasizing re- for additional
nationally. Media such as The Today Show and sponsible journalism in their curriculum.” 2 information
MSNBC carried the story, describing the irony Shortly after the unfounded accusations in
of how legislators who had just voted to legalize West Virginia, CDC set a new low for credibility and sources
a product were now sick from consumption of by publishing a report claiming that Miller’s of Real Milk
it. The story was an effective propaganda tool Organic Farm of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania products.
Wise Traditions SUMMER 2016 Wise Traditions 99