Archive for the ‘food and beverage’ Category

Raw milk diatribe

by wil — Feb. 28, 2010

Raw milk should not be consumed by anyone for any reason,” said John Sheehan, head of the FDA’s dairy office. “It is an inherently dangerous product.”msnbc
Who should avoid raw milk? Everyone should avoid raw milk and products made with raw milk.CDC (PDF)

Pretty scary, huh? Let’s take a look at some numbers and see just how scary…

From 1993 to 2006, 69 outbreaks of human infections resulting from consumption of raw milk were reported to CDC. These outbreaks included a total of 1,505 reported illnesses, 185 hospitalizations and 2 deaths.CDC

1993-2006 is 14 years (inclusively), so let’s divide 1,505 by 14 and 2 by 14…and we get:

  • 108 illnesses/year from raw milk
  • .14 deaths/year from raw milk

Hmm…that doesn’t sound too high statistically speaking. How does that compare to foodborne illnesses/deaths in general?

We estimate that foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year.CDC

Wait, wait, wait…“foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses…and 5,000 deaths” and raw milk causes 108 illnesses and .14 deaths each year, yet the FDA singles out raw milk “an inherently dangerous product”? It sounds like food in general is a far greater danger to the American public.

But what about pasteurized milk? It’s completely safe, right?

Well…No.

A review of the cases DHS [California Department of Health Services] cited in their Report, p. 4, shows 156 individual cases attributed to raw milk from 1973 until 1992, but no outbreaks or epidemics attributed to raw milk. If that figure were valid…there were only 5.6 cases yearly (156 cases 19 years = 5.6 cases) attributed to raw milk. That is the lowest case incidence of any animal product produced. However, there is extensive evidence showing that pasteurization is a great health risk to the public. Pasteurized diary caused numerous epidemics. In the years 1978-1997, 232,485 people suffered due to outbreaks from pasteurized milk. (SR p. 8-10.) If we were to disregard all of the other outbreaks from pasteurized milk and consider only those listed on pages 5-8, we have: 232,485 cases ÷ 19 years = 12,236 people affected each year by pasteurized milk products. In almost all cases, CDC reported that investigation showed proper pasteurization.Report in Favor of Raw Milk (PDF)

I couldn’t find national figures for pasteurized milk, but the CDC covers numerous outbreaks. Here are just a few:

Between June 11 and July 29, 1982, a large interstate outbreak of enteritis caused by Yersinia enterocolitica occurred. Epidemiologic investigation implicated milk pasteurized at a plant in Memphis, Tennessee, as the vehicle of infection. One hundred seventy-two culture-positive Y. enterocolitica infections were identified…. Most patients required hospitalization, and 17 underwent appendectomies.

Between March 22, and April 8, 1985, over 1,500 culture-confirmed cases of salmonellosis in northern Illinois have been reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Investigations have linked the outbreak to 2% pasteurized milk (”Blue Brook” brand) from one processing plant.

Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated with Pasteurized Milk from a Local Dairy — Massachusetts, 2007…. In all, five cases were identified, and three deaths occurred. CDC

Hmm…it seems pasteurization is not a panacea.

So maybe raw milk isn’t as “dangerous” as it’s made out to be, but why would you want to go out of your way to drink raw milk?

There are lots of reasons!

COMPARISON CHART BETWEEN RAW AND PASTEURIZED MILKS
Category Compared Raw Milk Pasteurized Milk
1) Enzymes: All available. Less than 10% remaining.
2) Protein: 100% available, all 22 amino acids, including 8 that are essential. Protein-lysine and tyrosine are altered by heat with serious loss of metabolic availability. This results in making the whole protein complex less available for tissue repair and rebuilding.
3) Fats: (research studies indicate that fats are necessary to metabolize protein and calcium. All natural protein-bearing foods contain fats.) All 18 fatty acids metabolically available, both saturated and unsaturated fats. Altered by heat, especially the 10 essential unsaturated fats.
4) Vitamins: All 100% available. Among the fat-soluble vitamins, some are classed as unstable and therefore a loss is caused by heating above blood temperature. This loss of Vitamin A, D, E and F can run as high as 66%. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50%. Losses on watersoluble vitamins are affected by heat and can run from 38% to 80%.
5) Carbohydrates: Easily utilized in metabolism. Still associated naturally with elements. Tests indicate that heat has made some changes making elements less available metabolically.
6) Minerals/elements: All 100% metabolically available. Major mineral/elemental components are calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur. Vital trace minerals, all 24 or more, 100% available. Calcium is altered by heat and loss in metabolism may run 50% or more, depending on pasteurization temperature. Losses in other essential minerals, because one mineral usually acts synergistically with another element. There is a loss of enzymes that serve as leaders in assimilation minerals. (Ex: phosphatase is essential for the absorption of calcium and is plentifully present in raw milk but completely destroyed by pasteurization.)

Src: Report in Favor of Raw Milk (PDF)

Plus, it just tastes great! It’s rich, creamy, and delicious. If you live in a state that allows the sale of raw milk, I urge you to give it a try. And if your state doesn’t allow it, I urge you to support your local Alliance for Raw Milk organization and advocate for change.

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Pssst…hey buddy…

by wil — Jan. 12, 2010

Know where I can score some raw milk?

Sunshine Farms was our past source for raw milk, but they had to close down because they couldn’t realistically comply with new, stricter state regulations.

But word on the street was, there was a new player in town, and by “in town”, I mean here in Santa Fe, not an hour-and-a-half away in Bosque Farms.

So we get in touch with the new dealer (a.k.a., the Milk Man), who tells us he doesn’t live in Santa Fe, but drives into town once a week to deliver the goods. Sweeet! All we have to do is purchase a cow share — because if you own the cow, you’re allowed to drink the milk. As it turns out, we’re headed his direction for Christmas. We just need to stop by and sign a bit of paperwork. Only we don’t know his exact address and now we can’t get hold of him.

Thankfully, after several tries, we get in touch and he gives us directions to the farm. So I drive out and meet his wife and the cows and pay for my cow share and even purchase a couple of gallons of raw milk, but I don’t sign a contract. That’ll be emailed to me.

A few days go by. We receive the contract. I’m supposed to print it out and mail it back to them, only I don’t know their address (I have directions to the farm, but no address). So I email them. A few days go by. They email back, and I send it off.

A week goes by. We’re running low on the good stuff and we don’t want to go back to ultra-pasteurized skank milk and we haven’t heard anything from our dealer. We call. We email. A few days go by. We receive an email from a Susan M. (name changed to protect the innocent) about a Sunday, 1pm delivery. We’re excited, but there’s no mention of a drop-off/pick-up location. So we email. We call. No response. We start looking through the phone book for a Susan M. — and find one. I think it’s a long-shot, but my wife’s willing to call, so she makes the call, and lo and behold, Susan M. is a raw milk devotee. She set up the mailing list for the Milk Man (so Susan M. is both a real person and an email alias for the Milk Man), and she knows the drop-off/pick-up location.

So we’re set. Only the drop-off time is changed at the last minute from Sunday, 1pm to Monday, 5:30pm. So last night, at twilight, I follow the instructions given to me by the real Susan M. I find the house. There’s a plain-white van parked in the gravel drive and 7 or 8 people forming a line. I get in line. The Milk Man announces there’s no cream or butter (it’s been too cold, the cows aren’t producing much), but he’s got milk. And now I have it (exactly one month from first contact), and I’m drinking it, and loving it.

Thank you Milk Man.

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Sunshine Farms

by wil — Oct. 18, 2009

goats

raw milk

Tuesday, my wife and I drove down to Bosque Farms (~25 miles south of Albuquerque) to visit Sunshine Farms, where we purchased a gallon of raw, grass-fed goat milk and a gallon of raw, grass-fed cow milk (raw as in unpasteurized — i.e., they don’t boil all the enzymes and nutrients out of it).

When we got home, my wife helped me perform a blind taste test. I compared Organic Valley whole milk to the raw cow milk. The winner? Raw. It has a mild, slightly sweet taste and none of the gaminess I normally associate with cow milk.

We can (and do) buy raw goat milk here in Santa Fe in the spring and summer, but it’s not available in the winter months, so we may try to make the trek down to Bosque Farms more often (we might try buying extra and freezing it — we’ve never frozen milk before, but people say you can do it).

Check out realmilk.com for more info and see if there’s a raw milk source near you. I encourage you to give it a try if you haven’t already.

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