Posted on 05/31/2014 4:35:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It seems like every other week someone gets ill from raw milk. The most recent incident occurred last month in West Michigan, when a 31-year-old woman and a six-year-old girl from different counties fell ill after drinking raw milk from a farm called Green Pastures. The Centers for Disease Control have released updated information on the link between raw milk and outbreaks of E. Coli infections, warning that a record number of such outbreaks were reported between 2010 and 2012.
We have a fraught relationship with raw milk in the US, but elsewhere the routine consumption of raw milk is far more normalized. Raw milk vending machines, for example, have recently been installed all over Europe, allowing unpasteurized dairy fiends to get a fix on the regular. The Middle East is long accustomed to drinking raw milk, and we’re not talking about cows or goats here. There, the milk of the humble dromedary—the camel—is so prized that camel owners often forego drinking the milk themselves, saving it for special occasions or when guests drop by. The Bedouins believe it to have curative powers, and anecdotal evidence seems to support such assertions: some parents of autistic children claim the milk improves sociability and mood in their kids.
Walid Abdul-Wahab believes that raw camel milk packs a double-whammy of good health. The Saudi Arabian native is the founder of Desert Farms, a California-based company that sources raw camel milk from a network of Amish farms in the Midwest (the Amish have a history with raw milk—in 2011, a Pennsylvania farm was raided and its owner accused of smuggling the dairy into Washington, D.C., where its sale was illegal). We caught up with Abdul-Wahab to find out about what’s going on his product.
Camel-milk Desert Farms camel milk. Photo courtesy of Desert Farms. MUNCHIES: So, why camel milk? Why did you decide to start selling it in the US? Walid Abdul-Wahab: I grew up in Saudi Arabia, where camel milk was ingrained in our culture. In the Middle East it’s used to honor your guests. Then I realized, by reading religious texts, that people felt that it could actually benefit the ill, people with diabetes, with autism. They didn’t mention these diseases by name, but they described their symptoms and all these prophets were recommending camels’ milk. I wanted to try to bring something positive from my home country to the US, when there’s often a barrier of communication between the two countries, and a lot of misconceptions about the Middle East. I also wanted to sell camel milk because of its health benefits—it’s been helping a lot of children with autism.
Yeah, I’ve read about that. How does it help? There is no scientific research behind this yet so we don’t make any of those kinds of claims. But I can tell you what I’ve heard from people who have tried it. The anti-inflammatory properties are the major factor that helps improve brain function. Anything you consume that’s anti-inflammatory reduces the amount of toxins in found in your gut, and reducing those toxins has a clear effect on the brain. It improves function. That’s why all these autistic children are on very strict diets, particularly gluten-free. Any food that has gluten in creates inflammation, and that’s exactly what you want to avoid.
What does the milk taste like? Camels seem like pretty funky animals. The milk tastes sweeter than cow’s milk, sometimes quite earthy. It isn’t repulsive at all. It’s a very clean taste, closer to cow’s milk than any other.
Where are these camels that you’re getting the milk from? All our farms are run by the Amish community, in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania. The camels on these farms actually come from Australia. Camels run wild over there—they’re an invasive species—so a couple of years ago these Amish farmers imported them by the thousands.
Why does the Amish community have a monopoly over these camel farms? The Amish knew about camels’ milk a while before anyone else did. The first farmer in the US to milk a camel, that I know of, was one of our farmers in Missouri. He told the Amish community that it could be a really good source of income, and, if it doesn’t work out, then we’ll have camels for camel rides at Christmas for the living Nativity scenes. It was a win-win situation for them.
So why do you offer raw camels’ milk in addition to pasteurized? Are you concerned about reports linking serious illnesses to the consumption of raw milk? I believe that raw milk is more nutritious. It all depends on how much you trust the source of the milk—if I were in the middle of the desert and someone offered me camels’ milk and I didn’t know where it came from, I’d rather have pasteurized. But if I trusted the source of the milk and knew exactly where it was coming from, knew how healthy the animal was, and what it was eating, then I’ll drink the raw milk right away. People seem to tolerate the raw milk a lot better than the pasteurized. It makes sense that if you’re heating up milk to the point where you’re killing bacteria, you’re also killing beneficial bacteria. The way most dairy processors are heating their milk is at a ridiculously high temperature. They heat it at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for two to three seconds. But you can heat the milk slowly at a moderate temperature, as we do, which keeps the flavor and the nutrition inside. The way we look at it is that these reports state illnesses in their hundreds within a year, which I see as insignificant when you compare it to something like smoking. It really depends on the treatment of the farm. A lot of these breakouts are because these farms are not inspected. If the government had a system in place for inspecting raw milk farms in the way it does pasteurized milk farms, I don’t think we’d have the same problem.
Given the restrictions that some states have on the sale of raw milk, how does that work for you? We are not allowed to sell in every state, but what we do offer is a herd share. You basically buy into being a member of the farm, so you’re a part-owner of the camels. If you own the livestock then you can drink it wherever you are. That’s a very common practice in the raw dairy industry. But most of our customers live in states that allow raw milk. California is our biggest state. There, raw milk is legal and we sell in nine locations of the store Lassenes Market. Right now we’re also finalizing a deal with Whole Foods—they’re going to be carrying our pasteurized camel milk at 40 of their stores in northern California.
What’s the deal with the “colostrum” I saw on your website? It sounds intense. Colostrum is basically the first milk that comes out of the female camel when her baby is born. It’s extra-nutritious, helping to get the new baby healthy and strong as fast as possible. Colostrum has been known for hundreds of years, regardless of the mammal. It’s the ultimate superfood. For us it’s very popular—whenever we get a baby calf we always notify our customers, and within a couple of hours it sells out. It’s our fastest-selling item, and is also very rare—we only get, like, four or five bottles at a time, and that’s reflected in the price—half a bottle costs $40. It’s just milk, so it tastes basically the same as the milk that the mother produces later—a little thicker and more sour—but it’s much darker in color, like a dark yellow.
Wow. Thanks for talking to me, Walid.
Credentials? you want to match your PhD against some other PhD? And do you have a discipline? You say you ‘are a PhD educated medical researcher etc’. And your ‘current focus is public health’...Are you employed? Are you now at a paid researcher focusing on public health? And btw, are you really ‘exDem’ or just ‘exMom’? Are you really still a flaming liberal wanting the Gobment to control all aspects of our lives?
Gee, one fourth of the large cattle operations feed their calves pasteurized milk.
Care to comment and reconcile that with your statement that those calves would die?
Any credentials on that fact?
Give a new born calf pasteurized milk...never let it close to the teat...live or die?
Being concerned with matters of public health does not equate to "wanting to control all aspects of our lives." Did you miss the part where I said that I really don't care if you choose to drink raw milk, as long as you are fully aware of the risks?
If you are not fully aware of the risks, then why get so argumentative at me for pointing them out? Why not get mad at the raw milk sellers who lie about the risks in order to get people to buy their product?
Consumption of Raw or Unpasteurized Milk and Milk Products by Pregnant Women and Children
Milk of Nonhuman Origin and Infectious Diseases in Humans
If it were up to me, I would require all raw milk producers and sellers to pay for every epidemiological investigation that has to be conducted following raw milk illness outbreaks, and to cover hospitalization costs and long-term care costs for patients affected by drinking raw milk. Perhaps if they were held legally and financially liable for the damages they cause, they would be more truthful about their products.
The evidence says they continue to live.
“Perhaps if they were held legally and financially liable...”
Yes, while we are on that subject, perhaps if the FDA and the big drug companies were held financially and criminally liable for bad drugs that kill people. Especially after it is found that the drug companies and FDA hid the fact that they were bad. And it is not just prescription drugs. Tylenol, Acetaminophen, damages livers. Acetaminophen is one of the leading causes of livers damaged to the point of needing replacement via transplant. Normal recommended dosing can cause liver damage, and without any alcohol effects present. Why, Mom, is it still legal to market acetaminophen products? The drug companies making Tylenol and Acetaminophen and the FDA know this is so. CDC knows it and have posted warnings. Why aren’t these people in prison, the high officials in the FDA and the CEO’s etc of the companies making and marketing acetaminophen products?
But it seems you want to ignore that and go after the Amish farmer who has a few people who buy raw milk from him. Your priorities are out of line, Mom!
And btw, Mom, I know the ‘hazards’ of drinking real milk. The system want to crucify any of us who choose to do so. I also know that the real hazard of drinking milk of any kind is the calcium. Calcium is a killer...I would refer you to Dr. Thomas Levy’s book, “Death by Calcium”. (Dr. Thomas Levy, MD, JD, cardiologist)
And you are probably one of those who thing women need calcium and Fosamax to deal with osteoporosis...
Show me the evidence...I do not believe calves that get no colostrum continue to live as a general rule.
Since more than 25% of large cattle farms, whose very livelihood depends on a high survival rate of calves, isn’t good enough for you, I doubt anything would be proof enough.
If the FDA and "big drug companies" are trying to hide something about acetaminophen, they sure are doing a poor job about it. I've been reading articles about liver toxicity issues associated with high doses of acetaminophen since the 1970s. People are not paying enough attention to the warnings, which is why the FDA recently changed the rules about acetaminophen sales. Moreover, every drug sold must contain a fairly comprehensive disclosure statement warning patients not just of the possible side effects of that specific drug, but general side effects that can be seen with any number of drugs. Companies falsifying or concealing data face huge legal and financial repercussions. Furthermore, even though drug companies do not intentionally hide the risks associated with their products, they can be sued for damages.
There isn't even anything similar between the strict regulatory oversight of drug companies and the "freedom" of raw milk producers and advocates to openly lie about raw milk without ever being held responsible for the sicknesses, permanent disabilities, and deaths it causes. They absolutely should be held financially and legally liable for the damage they cause. Here are just 6 people permanently injured by raw milk; the combined medical expenses of 5 of them are over 2 million dollars (one of them did not list medical costs). Two of these cases are from CA, which now requires all raw milk to carry a warning label. (Ironically, if those selling raw milk were held financially and legally responsible for the damage they cause, they could point to those labels in court as evidence that they were not misleading consumers. But that only applies in CA.) Add up all of those medical costs, plus the expense of epidemiological investigations--it is unfair to make taxpayers pay for all of that when it is those selling raw milk under false pretenses who are directly responsible.
As I have said several times already, I am perfectly okay with you or anyone else choosing to drink raw milk as long as you are fully aware of the risks. My objection only comes up because of the lies and deceptions used to sell raw milk. Right now, an unscrupulous farmer who does not want to invest in pasteurization equipment and the associated quality-control testing is free to claim all kinds of magical properties of raw milk in order to sell his product--clearly, he is motivated by profit and nothing else. Hold him financially responsible, that is all I am saying.
P.S. I have no idea where you got that idea about calcium. Calcium is a necessary mineral, without which your body would shut down.
Where does all this pseudoscience come from, and why does a small minority of people lap that stuff up?
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