Page 92 - Winter2020

RAW MILK UPDATES by Pete Kennedy, Esq.

CANADA - Ontario Charter Challenge to Raw Milk Ban
From November 16-20, Judge Shaun O’Brien heard arguments in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on an ap-
plication (petition) filed by two farmers (one of the farmers is Elisa Vander Hoot whose husband, Michael Schmidt, has
done more to promote raw milk and increase access to it than anyone in Canada) and nineteen consumers to overturn
national and provincial bans on the sale and distribution of raw milk. The applicants mainly claimed the bans violate
a provision in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the equivalent of the U.S. Constitution) guaranteeing
freedom of conscience and religion. (See Wise Traditions Summer 2020 for background.)
Opposing the petition at the hearing were attorneys for the attorney general of Ontario, the attorney general of
Canada, the Regional Municipality of York, the Regional Municipality of Peel, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit,
the Dairy Farmers of Ontario and Dairy Farmers of Canada. Arguments before the court mainly focused on whether
distributing and consuming raw milk are activities protected under the freedom of conscience clause in the charter
and on whether the risks raw milk poses to human health justify the ban.
Canada and Scotland are the only countries in the industrialized world that have completely banned the sale or
distribution of raw milk. Much evidence has appeared in recent years showing that raw milk is a safe product; during
the hearing the opposition attorneys tried to have that evidence stricken from the record, Joseph Cheng, the lawyer
representing the attorney general of Canada, moved to disqualify three of the applicants’ experts on the science and
the law claiming that the experts’ testimony was biased and, in the case of the two experts on the science, was outside
their area of training. Cheng asked the court to give no weight to a 2018 study finding that “the rate of unpasteurized
milk associated outbreaks has been declining since 2010, despite increasing legal distribution. Controlling for growth
in population and consumption, the outbreak rate has effectively decreased by 74% since 2005.” (The study looked
at outbreaks from 2005 to 2016.) 1
The irony is that Cheng brought up the name of John Sheehan, the most anti-raw milk regulator in the United
States, in justifying his request. Sheehan was once the chief of FDA’s dairy division and is currently a senior advisor
for compliance and enforcement at the agency. He has said that drinking raw milk is like playing Russian roulette with
your health. Both the FDA and CDC asked the publisher of the 2018 study to retract it—unsurprising since the study
totally contradicts the anti-raw milk narrative both agencies like to peddle. Applicants’ attorney Jonathan Nemetallah
noted during the hearing that no one had come up with a different interpretation of the data the study used.
Despite the best efforts of Cheng and the other government and industry attorneys to scrub the record as much
as possible, Nemetallah brought up two facts the opposition did not challenge: first, that over a quarter million people
drink raw milk in Ontario and second, that there hasn’t been a single case of foodborne illness in the province attrib-
uted to raw milk consumption in ten years.

You’re Invited!

WISE CONVERSATIONS: A NEW REASON TO BE A MEMBER

We have another membership perk! We are having monthly meetings online for members in order to answer your questions.
Each month we pick a specific topic and have a guest who works closely with the Foundation. As members, you can submit your
questions in advance by email and we will answer as many as possible during the hour. We send an email notice announcing
the meetings which occur in the last week of the month. We have room for up to 500 at each meeting, but if you cannot attend
live, you can view the recordings afterwards either on our website or on our members-only Facebook group.

LOGGING IN ON OUR WEBSITE
If you need your login or password, let us know: info@westonaprice.org

MEMBERS-ONLY FACEBOOK GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/westonapricefoundation/permalink/784319591978068/

If you have suggestions for topics or have not been getting our email about
these events, please let us know. info@westonaprice.org

90 Wise Traditions WINTER 2020