Page 65 - Spring2012

Legislative Updates

POLICY UPDATE:DEFENDING RAW MILK IN THE POLICY ARENA
By Judith McGeary, Esq.

“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long age of three hundred fifteen illnesses a year from
past the time when the quo has lost its status,” all dairy products for which the pasteurization
said Laurence Peter, author of The Peter Prin- status was known. Of those, an average of one
ciple. hundred twelve illnesses each year were attrib-
The raw milk movement continues to gain uted to all raw dairy products, and two hundred
momentum due to increasing consumer demand three illnesses were attributed to pasteurized
and a growing body of scientific literature sup- dairy products.
porting the theory that gut health is one of the To provide some context for those numbers,
keys to human health. Yet the entrenched bureau- consider that an average of almost twenty-four
cracy appears intent on trying to stem the tide. thousand foodborne illnesses are reported each
In late February, the Centers for Disease Control year. So only one half of one percent of all food-
(CDC) published a study purporting to prove that borne illness is attributed to raw dairy products.
raw milk is significantly more dangerous than According to a CDC food consumption survey,
pasteurized milk, and that legalizing sales of raw 3 percent of Americans drink raw milk (Food-
milk leads to more illnesses (http://wwwnc.cdc. borne Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet)
gov/eid/article/18/3/11-1370_article.htm). Population Survey Atlas of Exposures (2006-
The study had significant political ramifica- 2007), www.cdc.gov/foodnet/surveys/FoodNet
tions. Bills to expand legal access to raw milk ExposureAtlas 0607_508.pdf). That translates to

are being discussed in multiple states this year. approximately 9.4 million raw milk consumers Judith McGeary
And at the federal level, HR 1830, which would nationwide. Out of those millions of raw milk is the Austin, Texas
Chapter Leader,
legalize interstate commerce of raw milk, has drinkers, approximately one hundred twelve an attorney and
been gaining traction, with five co-sponsors at allegedly become sick each year from raw dairy small farmer in
the time this article goes to print. Unsurprisingly, products, or 0.001 percent annually. Austin, and the
the FDA sent congressional staffers a notice Thus, the simplest response to the CDC’s Executive Director of
trumpeting the results of the CDC study. announcement is that milk is not a high risk prod- the Farm and Ranch
WAPF published an immediate rebuttal to uct, and comparisons between raw and pasteur- Freedom Alliance.
the study, pointing out several of its fundamental ized milk are not relevant from the perspective She has a B.S. in
flaws (www.westonaprice.org/press/cdc-cherry- of protecting public health. Biology from
Stanford University
picks-data-to-make-case-against-raw-milk). But and a J.D. from the
while WAPF can do a lot to counter the agency’s FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED University of Texas
misinformation, it’s just as important for each Digging a little deeper reveals that the at Austin. She and
individual member to step forward to explain the study’s comparisons were not only irrelevant, her husband
issues to their elected officials and the people in but fundamentally flawed. The most sensation- run a small
their community. alist quote from the study was that raw dairy is grass-based farm
“150 times” more likely to cause a “foodborne with sheep, cattle,
WHAT THE NUMBERS TELL US illness outbreak” than pasteurized dairy. But horses, and poultry.
For more
In absolute numbers, illnesses related to remember that "an outbreak" can be thousands information go to
dairy products, whether pasteurized or raw, are of people seriously ill, or just two people with www.farmandranch-
relatively rare. For the fourteen-year period the minor stomach aches, or anything in between. freedom.org or
CDC examined (1993-2006), they found an aver- The rate of outbreaks is of little significance if call (512) 243-9404.

Wise Traditions SPRING 2012 SPRING 2012 Wise Traditions 65

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