WV passes raw milk consumption bill, despite FDA warnings
More stories from William Izzo
West Virginia lawmakers passed a bill 81-19 to allow the consumption of raw milk throughout the state.
This bill would not allow for any regulated sales of raw, unprocessed milk but enables those who own milk-producing animals to provide the milk to community members.
Those who own the aforementioned animals must sign a contract of ownership for the animals, and those willing to consume the milk must sign a form acknowledging any health risks linked to raw milk.
Raw milk is directly from an animal and has not been through pasteurization, a process involving heating milk until bacteria and germs are killed.
The United States Food And Drug Administration has plenty of literature on the subject. Although it legally does not carry jurisdiction in this matter, the FDA still warns against consumption.
This literature says raw milk contains “ a variety of disease-causing pathogens as demonstrated by numerous scientific studies.”
These pathogens include E. Coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter, which leads to campylobacteriosis, an illness lasting about a week with symptoms of diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever.
Pregnant women should take extra precaution. The FDA warns about the bacteria Listeria. Listeria is found in soil, water, some animals, raw milk and anything that may be produced by raw milk.
The FDA states Listeria can lead to miscarriage, fetal death or illness of a newborn child.
Although there is plenty of evidence against the consumption of raw milk, West Virginians who have a Paleo Diet would argue for its benefits.
A Paleo Diet involves high protein intake, high fiber intake, a higher intake of monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats, potassium and vitamins, while limiting carbs and sodium.
Proprietors of this diet may argue raw milk consumption has more benefits than the FDA or the Center for Disease Control would admit.
There are arguments for nutrition claiming pasteurization reduces nutritional milk quality.
Arguments state consuming raw milk helps those who may be lactose intolerant overcome their intolerance.
William Izzo can be contacted at [email protected].
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Chris R. • Mar 25, 2015 at 4:25 pm
What this article should include is that FOIA’d data from CDC in 2005 on PASTEURIZED milk outbreaks (specifically excluding raw) shows that those outbreaks are of the same pathogens CDC/FDA say MAY cause illness from raw milk. Approximately 17,000 people have been sickened from pasteurized milk since CDC started keeping records until the date of the FOIA in 2005 (Those pathogens include Campylobacter, E Coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Norovirus, Hepatitis A, Staphylococcus.) Just ten days ago, March 15, CDC confirmed three deaths from Blue Bell pasteurized ice cream in Kansas.
The article also doesn’t mention that produce and meats regularly cause illness with the same pathogens mentioned. In fact CDC data compiled from 1998 to 2008 showed that over 600 people die annually from pathogens in meat, and over 200 die annually die from pathogens in vegetables. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/3/11-1866_article
A symposium sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Assoc showed multiple well-cited scientific studies showing that when raw milk was injected with large amounts of these pathogens, the good bacteria in the raw milk killed off the pathogens. Those good bacteria are destroyed during the pasteurization process.
The GABRIELA study was a massive study by many PhDs and MDs showing the protective effective of raw milk in children against asthma and allergies (as reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)
Many headlines about raw milk illness end up being false or misleading. Oftentimes the culprit ends up not being the raw milk, as health officials try to figure out why people who didn’t consume raw milk are also included in the outbreak. Poultry or ground beef often ends up the true culprit. CDC estimates that 98% of poultry in the U.S. is contaminated with Salmonella, Staph, Listeria, Campylobacter and/or E coli, and more deaths occur from poultry than any other commodity.
Seems like the villains should be pasteurized milk, vegetables and meat, not raw milk.