State sting interrupts dairy farmer's delivery Co-op's raw milk a potential problem[Michigan]

The Ann Arbor News ^ | October 18, 2006 | JO COLLINS MATHIS

[ican'tbelieveit]

That could be also.

I work in pharma so I have had my eyes opened up wide about what it takes to comply with the regulatory agencies. And they come in and pull things out of their hats to make compliance by a company harder and harder.

[gcruse]

I worked in photofinishing for years. The regulations for sivler discharge in some places are tantamount to daring a company to go into business. The power to tax isn't the only power to destroy.

[leftcoaster]

I also grew up on a Michigan dairy, and drank the raw milk. But I recall it being illegal even back in the 1960's to sell un-pasturized milk.

Before you blame the Gumint, you also need to recognize how they are trying to protect the interest of all the dairy farmers who are trying to police and protect their own industry. No one who has milk to market wants a food scare in the dairy industry like the fresh spinach producers had to suffer thru this fall.

If a lot of people get sick from un-pasturized milk, or if a kid somewhere dies from the exposuree, do you think we all can trust the media to acurately report the story so that no one will be scared away from buying "safe" milk?

[slowhandluke]

Are you folks referring to Chrohn's disease, one of the auto-immune diseases?

[Balding_Eagle]

This is what I was referring to:

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines. It primarily causes ulcerations (breaks in the lining) of the small and large intestines, but can affect the digestive system anywhere from the mouth to the anus. It is named after the physician who described the disease in 1932. It also is called granulomatous enteritis or colitis, regional enteritis, ileitis, or terminal ileitis.

I think I spelled it wrong up thread.

[VOA]

I only heard about this story on an "ag" station in our area of mid-Missouri.

The one term mentioned on the radio that I don't find in the article is
"cowshares".
Apparently that't the term for partial ownership of a cow and the milk that
comes from it.

IIRC, an MDA agent approached the dairy farmer and tried to buy some
raw milk directly.
The operator said "NO. But if you want to buy a cowshare and get your
milk the legal way, we can do that."

I guess that wasn't good enough for the MDA agent.

[Tinian]

We gave them that power when the FDA & DEA were chartered during the Nixon administration.

1930

McNARY-MAPES AMENDMENT authorizes FDA standards of quality and fill-of-container for canned food, excluding meat and milk products.

The name of the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration is shortened to FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) under an agricultural appropriations act.

The predecessor to today's FDA dates back to 1820.

You can't blame the FDA on Nixon, although the DEA was chartered under his watch. And who originally proposed the DEA?

In 1968, with the introduction into Congress of Reorganization Plan No. 1, President Johnson proposed combining two agencies into a third new drug enforcement agency. The action merged the Bureau of Narcotics, in the Treasury Department, which was responsible for the control of marijuana and narcotics such as heroin, with the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control (BDAC), in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which was responsible for the control of dangerous drugs, including depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens, such as LSD. The new agency, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), was placed under the Department of Justice, which is the government agency primarily concerned with federal law enforcement.

So what do you want--legal heroin and spoiled food on grocery shelves?

Pi$$ing on Nixon's grave won't get you either.

[bigfootbob]

Excuse me, I was wrong about the dates of the FDA. However, there was a huge expansion of their authority during Nixon's time period, (I voted for him when I turned 18), that is a fact.

I didn't say anything about free heroin or spoiled food. I want some sanity and restraint on the assault of liberty from the government.

Can you get that principle?

[voiceinthewind]

I believe it's legal here in Texas as long as the farmer has a permit issued by the state. My daddy grew up on raw milk from the family goat, said it was the reason he was rarely sick as a child.

[FLOutdoorsman]

Heh. That was on Derry's show.

[MaggieCarta]

Thank you for your comments, and your reminder of the health considerations of pasteurized milk. I was blaming all the new TB cases on illegal aliens. I never thought about milk sources.

[davidgumpert]

In addition to this article from Ann Arbor paper, I have written several on Michigan raw milk problems for BusinessWeek.com. See these two:
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2006/sb20061019_952010.htm?chan=search
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2006/sb20061025_806210.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_policy

Also, my blog, www.thecompletepatient.com.

This has become a huge issue of both nutrition and rights.

David Gumpert

[patton]

Can you point me to either of those two studies? My son has Crohn's.

[Fury]

Let me look. They were mentioned in the quarterly American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners. I ws not a member this last year (will join up again this year)...

[patton]

Thank you.

[patton]

Treatment of severe Crohn's disease using antimycobacterial triple therapy--approaching a cure?

Borody TJ, Leis S, Warren EF, Surace R.

Centre for Digestive Diseases, Sydney, Australia. tborody@zip.com.au

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis is probably the best candidate for a microbial cause of Crohn's disease although arguments to the contrary can be equally convincing. Growing evidence suggests that prolonged antimycobacterial combination therapy can improve Crohn's disease in some patients. AIM: To report long-term observations in patients with severe Crohn's disease treated with triple macrolide-based antimycobacterial therapy. PATIENTS: A series of 12 patients (7 male, 5 female; aged 15-42 years) with severe, obstructive or penetrating Crohn's disease were recruited. METHODS: Patients failing maximal therapy were commenced prospectively on a combination of rifabutin (450 mg/d), clarithromycin (750 mg/d) and clofazimine (2 mg/kg/d). Progress was monitored through colonoscopy, histology, clinical response and Harvey-Bradshaw activity index. RESULTS: Follow-up data were available for up to 54 months of therapy Six out of 12 patients experienced a full response to the antiMycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis combination achieving complete clinical, colonoscopic and histologic remission of Crohn's disease. Four of these patients were able to cease treatment after 24-46 months, 3 of whom remained in total remission without treatment for up to 26 months and one patient relapsed after six months off treatment. A partial response to the anti-Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis combination was seen in 2 patients showing complete clinical remission with mild histologic inflammation. Return to normal of terminal ileal strictures occurred in 5 patients. Harvey-Bradshaw activity index in patients showing a full or partial response to therapy fell from an initial 13.4 +/- 1. 91 to 0. 5 +/- 0. 47 [n = 8, p < 0. 001) after 52-54 months. CONCLUSIONS: Reversal of severe Crohn's disease has been achieved in 6/12 patients using prolonged combination anti-Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis therapy alone. Three patients remain in long-term remission with no detectable Crohn's disease off all therapy These results support a causal role for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease while also suggesting that a cure may become possible.

PMID: 11926571 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]