This is Nazi-level *sick*.
Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 07/24/2010 10:16:54 AM PDT by thecodont
With no warning one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts.
Then, guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.
"I still can't believe they took our yogurt," said Rawesome volunteer Sea J. Jones, a few days after the raid. "There's a medical marijuana shop a couple miles away, and they're raiding us because we're selling raw dairy products?"
Cartons of raw goat and cow milk and blocks of unpasteurized goat cheese were among the groceries seized in the June 30 raid by federal, state and local authorities — the latest salvo in the heated food fight over what people can put in their mouths.
On one side are government regulators, who say they are enforcing rules designed to protect consumers from unsafe foods and to provide a level playing field for producers. On the other side are "healthy food" consumers — a faction of foodies who challenge government science and seek food in its most pure form.
They want almonds cracked fresh from the shell, not those run through a federally mandated pasteurization process that uses either heat or a chemical to kill off salmonella and other possible contaminants. They hunger for meat slaughtered on the farm. And they're willing to pay a premium — $6, $8 or more — for a gallon of milk straight from the cow.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
So despite research outlining the dangers of consuming raw milk and other unprocessed foods, they're finding ways to circumnavigate federal, state and local laws that seek to control what they can serve at the dinner table. Such defiance, they said, comes from growing distrust of a food sector that has become more industrialized and consolidated — and whose products have been at the root of some of the country's deadliest food contamination cases.
"This is about control and profit, not our health," said Aajonus Vonderplanitz, co-founder of Rawesome Foods. "How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?" -----------------------------
This presents an interesting confluence of two mutually antagonistic political groups: the environmentalists who want more government involvement in people's lives, and the conservatives who want much less of it.
People should be allowed to eat raw foods, regardless of disease risk. If they want to risk their health, they should be allowed to do so. If they want to better their health, they should be allowed to do so.
I agree. Let the USDA slap a big ol’ warning label on the packaging, and if people want to accept the risk, let them.
It's an interesting confluence of two mutually similar political groups: the birkenstock wearing 'natural food' nuts versus the birkenstock wearing 'we know better than you' nuts. Rather than outlaw raw dairy products, why don't both groups concentrate on getting the cows & goats healthy?
I don't like the feds any more than these folks, but, seriously, way to throw your fellow hippies under the bus, dude!
Yes, but...the irony here is that the folks who own and work in these “health-food” groceries are all way left politically. And here, they get a dose of what they actually support (more government intervention) and they’re flabbergasted.
They just want the government to intervene in families, religion, education, agriculture, others’ small businesses, energy, banking and major industry. They’re useful idiots learning life-lessons the hard way, and the ultimate irony is that this won’t change their political outlook.
/johnny
I can't drink pasteurized milk or eat cheese made from pasteurized milk without suffering a serious bout of diarrhea. When I drink raw milk or eat raw milk cheese I have none of those issues.
Organic Pastures, a raw milk dairy in California was inspected by the state about a year ago and they found their milk had much less bacteria and the facilities were cleaner than the pasteurized milk dairies.
When you drink pasteurized milk, you aren't drinking pure, clean milk, you're drinking milk that is laden with dead bacteria.
The revenooers done took all our cow squeezin’s.
My point exactly!
RATS wanted a powerful government, now they find out it bites back!
It’s always a bad sign when satire is taken as serious...but to find out that the article is serious v/s satire is even worse.
This government is completely out of control. If someone wants to eat dirt it’s not anyone’s business. Guns drawn? For God sakes...what the hell is going on?
I am lactose intolerant. My pro-biotic friend informed me that raw milk would not affect my innards. I have yet to try it but it fits in with what you’re saying.
When I was a kid my mom got our milk from a farmer friend who sold it for cheap before the milk truck came. She just put it in a big pot and heated it on the stove before we drank it.
Must be a shock to the hippies to learn that they’re people are now ‘the man’. That raw yogurt is going to have to be sold on the streets now by dealers.
I'm 45 now, and all my life I have an immune system that kicks butt. When I was young I'd show off in stupid ways like drinking from the same bottle as someone with strep throat. Yes, very stupid. But I didn't get strep. I almost never get anything. I've never broken a bone (knock wood), and I have the kind of plow-uphill stamina that people generally associate with oxen.
I'm just sayin'.
Ban soda and give the kids pot and porn instead.
what a messed up country we have.
I’m almost hoping for an Apocolypse
My guess is these were USDA enforcement types who don't get to play cop very often. ,
I remember a number of times before I retired from flying, that I'd get an "armed LEO" (law enforcement officer) form and the individual would be with the Dept. of Agriculture/USDA. When I'd ask them about their need to carry while a passenger, the answer would be that they were on duty when they arrived and that the weapon was needed in the course of that duty. I'd usually roll my eyes to my FO and say "ri-i-i-ight!"
Now I understand./s
LOL!
Since that comes across as so much organic cow pie, why should the rest of the article be paid attention to?
Friggin propaganda. This is the second day in a row where disinformation has completely destroyed otherwise interesting news.
When they came for my neighbors goat's milk I said nothing...
the devil and his minions don't hate drugs, they hate healthy food.
You totally MISS the point. It is not about “healthy” or “safe” or anything remotely connected with that. “Safe” and “healthy” are smokescreens to hide the real reasons.
“This is about control and profit, not our health,” said Aajonus Vonderplanitz, co-founder of Rawesome Foods. “How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?”
“Control and profit”. This guy hits the nail on the head. And who wants those two things?
“On one side are government regulators, who say they are enforcing rules designed to protect consumers from unsafe foods and to provide a level playing field for producers.”
Level playing field?? Follow the money when the government’s punitive gun-to-the-head force is used to “level the playing field”. So who pulls the strings of the government jackbooted thug puppets?
“But raw milk in particular has drawn a lot of regulatory scrutiny, largely because the politically powerful dairy industry has pressed the government to act.”
“Politically Powerful”! Ring a bell??? The best government money can buy. “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
“Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”
— Daniel Webster
“It is not the function of Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.”
—Robert Houghwout Jackson (1892-1954), Associate Justice, US Supreme Court
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”
—Atlas Shrugged
You’re right — but — they could change — I did —
Used to be sort of like that, until a family member had cancer and we wanted alternative treatment — laetril — was when I learned that the AMA and the federal govt were arresting doctors in the middle of the night and trashing their offices — we got into an alternative cancer cure underground, and it was (accidentally) my door to the Right.
I remember being in a doctor’s office in...perhaps West Covina... and even though I didn’t say anything, the person I was with said to me “You’re repelled by the decor here, aren’t you?” I was, and by what the other people there looked like and what they were wearing — but I got over it and past it — and began a long process of re-evaluating my values, beliefs and prejudices...and that’s why I’m here at FR today.
So people can change from experience, because I did.
That is EXACTLY right. Big RED sticker. And be done with it. GD Nanny state!!
When I was a child, living for a while in the French countryside, there was no pasteurization (even though it was invented there.) I remember often walking with the family i was staying with to get milk in a pail, fresh from the cow. That’s what everyone drank and no one got sick.
..and shooo tastes good!!
Pleeze. The reason the government required the dairy industry to pasteurize milk in the first place was not some dairy/industrial complex plot, it was because UNPASTEURIZED MILK WAS AND IS A PRIMARY VEHICLE FOR THE SPREAD OF TUBERCULOSIS.
I would not buy raw dairy products from a store. A farmer that I trusted maybe. I would ahve no problem using raw products that I raised myself from healthy cows. Has a lot of that as a child when we visited my Great Uncles farm in WV.
Raw milk from grass fed cows which has been tested for bacteria levels is safe. Government as usual is unable to make distinctions between the safe and unsafe production of raw milk. Here is a list of the standards promulgated by RAW-USA.
http://www.rawusa.org/standards.html
Bottom line is people are allowed to gnosh on the toxin filters of the ocean I should be allowed to drink safe raw milk.
Raw milk is like tree ripened peaches. both are nectar of the gods. Neither are available at the local grocery.
It already has warnings: It says RAW on the label in big letters, and it cost as much as $16 per gallon. The seller is not tricking the consumer into buying a dangerous product.
My Grandad had an old strain of peaches growing over where a chicken coup had been for many years before.
Big as grapefruits & tasty & juicy beyond belief.
In late June/early July we had to put 2x4's up to help support the branches so ladden with giant peaches.
What I meant to say was that some sort of officially-sanctioned warning label should be the extent of the USDA’s action with regard to raw dairy products... much like the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarette packs.
Under Obamunism, the State pays for health care and has a direct interest in the behavior of the peasants citizens. Individuals have a social responsibility to subordinate their own selfish interest to the general welfare of the community. If an individual refuses to do so voluntarily, the State must compel him.
Regulation of food and drugs is actually a well-established role of the Feds that dates back to the Pure Food and Drug Act signed by President Teddy Roosevelt back in 1906. It's not new to Obamunism, the law was enacted and signed by Republicans. (BTW, Teddy R., who John McCain said would be his presidential role model, also advocated national health insurance back then.)
This is Nazi-level *sick*.
Nope ! I totally get it ... but I love to see the two birkenstock wearing armies fighting eaach other. As for milk - I don’t drink it unless it is hidden in some other product. It’s all those antibiotics and growth hormones for cows.
I really thought this was satire when I first started reading it because it is so ludicrous. Next thing you know they will be bursting in on homeschoolers 'with guns drawn' or home child care centers...etc. etc. Got to get those perps donchya know!
It is sort of comical though with respect to the people in there...'wearing hemp' just like the good little 60's hippies that they are. LOL And you can bet they voted for this racist marxist bas*ard. I'm surprised they didn't try to stick flowers in the guns. /s Make love not war....o brother. We conservatives are screwed.
/rambling off
Agreed. I’ll (begrudgingly) allow that the government can tell me how to change my action to minimize risk for others... but to tell me how to minimize my risks for myself? That goes beyond the pale.
http://www.realmilk.com/milk-laws-1.html
CALIFORNIA
Summary:
Sales of raw milk and raw milk products are legal both in stores and on the farm. In order for raw milk to be sold legally, it must be 'market milk. 'This is milk that meets the standards provided in the Milk and Milk Products Act of 1947.
Under the Act, market milk is graded and designated into three classes:'certified milk,' 'guaranteed milk,' and 'Grade A milk. 'Of the three classes, only Grade A raw milk is available for sale today in California. The standards for guaranteed raw milk to be market milk are more stringent than those for Grade A raw milk. While the Milk and Milk Products Act calls for county milk commissions to set the standards for certified raw milk, not a single county milk commission still exists.
Raw milk dairy farmers need market milk permits in order to produce their product. In addition, any person engaged in an aspect of the milk business that falls under the statutory definition of milk products plant must obtain a milk products plant license. There is an exemption from the license requirement, however, for "any producer whose business consists exclusively of producing and distributing raw market milk produced by such producer."
Raw milk and most raw milk products require warning labels. Municipalities and counties in the state have the power to establish compulsory pasteurization laws but only Humboldt County has done so.
California Code
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 1. GENERALLY
Chapter 1. Short Title and Definitions
S 32510 Food & Agric.
"'Market Milk' means milk which conforms to the standards which are provided in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 35751), Part 2 of this division, market milk includes components and derivatives of market milk. Market milk may be supplied to the consumer in the fluid state or may also be utilized in the manufacture of milk products."
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 2. MILK AND CREAM
Chapter 2. Market Milk and Cream
Article 2. Market Milk Standards and Grades
S 35787 Food & Agric.
Where a milk inspection service has been approved or established pursuant to this code, market milk shall be graded and designated into one of the following classes:
(a)"Certified milk."
(b)"Guaranteed milk."
(c)"Grade A milk."
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 2. MILK AND CREAM
Chapter 2. Market Milk and Cream
Article 6. Grade A Market Milk
S 35891 Food & Agric.
Grade A raw milk is market milk which conforms to all the following minimum requirements:
(a)The health of the cows and goats shall be determined at least once in two months by an official representative of an approved milk inspection service, or a milk inspection service which is established by the director.
(b)It shall be produced on dairy farms that score not less than 85 percent on the dairy farm scorecard.
(c)It shall be cooled immediately after being drawn from the cow or goat to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or less, and so maintained until delivered to the consumer, at which time it shall contain not more than 15,000 bacteria per milliliter.
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 2. MILK AND CREAM
Chapter 2. Market Milk and Cream
Article 5. Guaranteed Market Milk
S 35861 Food & Agric.
Guaranteed raw milk is market milk which conforms to all of the following minimum requirements:
(a)The health of the cows and goats shall be determined at least once each month by an official representative of an approved milk inspection service, or a milk inspection service which is established by the director.
(b)It shall be produced on dairy farms which score not less than 90 percent on the dairy farm scorecard. (c)It shall be bottled on the premises where produced and delivered in containers which have the pouring lip completely protected from contamination.
(d)It shall be cooled immediately after being drawn from the cow or goat to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or less, and so maintained until it is delivered to the consumer, at which time it shall contain not more than 10,000 bacteria per milliliter.
(e)It shall be sold to the consumer within 30 hours after production and labeled to indicate the date of sale to the consumer.
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 2. MILK AND CREAM
Chapter 2. Market Milk and Cream
Article 7. Certified Milk
S 35921 Food & Agric.
Certified milk is market milk which conforms to the rules, regulations, methods, and standards for the production and distribution of certified milk adopted by the county milk commission established in a county pursuant to this article.
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 1. GENERALLY
Chapter 4. Inspection Services
Article 7. Permits
S 33222 Food & Agric.
Every person, before engaging in the business of producing market milk, shall obtain a permit from the director or from the approved milk inspection service which is maintained by the county which is designated by the director pursuant to this chapter for each dairy farm.
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 1. GENERALLY
Chapter 4. Inspection Services
Article 7. Permits
S 33226 Food & Agric.
Every person shall obtain a permit from the director before engaging in the business of processing or distributing market milk. Upon receipt of an application for a permit, the director shall cause an investigation to be made of the milk products plant or place of business from which milk is distributed. If this division and the standards which are established pursuant to the authority which is granted in this division are complied with, a permit shall be issued by the director of the milk products plant or place of business. The permit shall be issued for a period not to exceed one year.
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 1. GENERALLY
Chapter 1. Short Title and Definitions
S 32513 Food & Agric.
"'Milk products plant' means any place in which a person engages in the business of handling, receiving, manufacturing, freezing, processing or packaging milk, or any product of milk."
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 1. GENERALLY
Chapter 12. Licenses, Records, and Reports
Article 3. Licensing of Milk Products Plants and Other Places of Business
S 35017 Food & Agric.
This article does not apply to any of the following:
Any producer whose business consists exclusively of producing and distributing raw market milk produced by such producer.
California Code of Regulations
Title 17. Public Health
Division 1. State Department of Health Services
Chapter 5. Sanitation (Environmental)
Subchapter 2. Foods and Drugs
Article 3.7. Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products
S 17:11380. Required Health Warning on Labels of Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products.
(a) Raw Milk and raw milk products shall bear the following warning on the principal display panel or panels of the label:
WARNING
Raw (unpasteurized) milk and raw milk dairy products may contain disease-causing micro-organisms. Persons at highest risk of disease from these organisms include newborns and infants; the elderly; pregnant women; those taking corticosteroids, antibiotics or antacids; and those having chronic illnesses or other conditions that weaken their immunity.
'Raw milk product' means any food which contains raw milk, and shall include, but not be limited to, cheese (except when ripened or cured at least 60 days pursuant to sections 37975 and 38001 Food & Agric. of the Food and Agricultural Code), cream, butter and kefir.
California Code
CALIFORNIA FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CODE
DIVISION 15. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS ACT OF 1947
PART 2. MILK AND CREAM
Chapter 2. Market Milk and Cream
Article 1. General Provisions
S 35756 Food & Agric.
This division, and the regulations of the director are not a limitation on the power of a municipality or county, by ordinance or regulation, to establish compulsory pasteurization of market milk or reasonable higher standards for milk fat and solids-not-fat than those which are established in this division, but such standards shall apply only to market milk after standardization by a milk distributor.
And if we were still living in the 1890’s where refrigeration and testing wasn’t available, it would be quite valuable. Nathan Straus performed a valuable service to society back then. However, we have probably “progressed” a bit beyond the technologies of the 19th century. Well maybe not you, but some of us have.
Education is a valuable thing. It cures the disease called “ignorance”. Unfortunately, it does nothing for “stupidity”. Do a little research and you might find that many parts of society have progressed beyond the ignorance of the 1800’s. Especially our food chain.
I’ll be more than happy to take my informed and educated chances with the foods I ingest if we can eliminate some of the “Gestapo-ism” that is infecting our “public servants”.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
—Benjamin Franklin, 1759
“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
—James Madison
I buy pasteurized but not homogenized milk. I also was vaccinated and my children are vaccinated. I prefer that my water not contain Cryptosporidium, and that it not give me cholera or typhus, and I expect the government to have a hand in making sure it doesn't. I do not feel my liberty has been impinged on.
And speaking of stupidity, which as you pointed out is difficult to cure, you are a nasty, condescending piece of work.
Did you ever think we have done research? And did you ever think that nobody is advocating that milk produced at large dairy farms where the cows are fed grain and kept in mailking stalls not be pasteurized? They are not. So you can stop making blanket assumptions about those who support the right for a person to choose clean, bacteria free, raw milk from inspected and certified dairies.
Fine with me if people want to drink raw milk, as long as they are aware that they are potentially exposing themselves and their children to salmonella, listeria, cryptosporidium, campylobacter, yersinia, E. coli, staphylococcus and rabies. Yum. But stores should not be selling it to people who may or may not be aware of the risks. If people want to make sure they can drink “clean, bacteria free, raw milk,” they need to buy a cow, milk it themselves and test each batch. Otherwise they are indulging in Luddism of the first order.
Yeah, but remember these guys seem to not quite comprehend the difference between applied police authority and the use of deadly force. Would they pull their guns on a passenger who pulled a flask out of his briefcase?? These guys always made me nervous!
What part of bacteria free (harmful bacteria that is) did you fail to comprehend? That is why the standards for the production and sale of raw milk include testing for bacteria.
I sould feel safer drinking raw milk from a known producer who adheres to such standards then I do eating FDA sanction lettuce that a bunch of illegal immigrants have picked with hands covered with e.coli cause they have no way of cleaning up after relieving themselves in the fields. But hey that is just me.
You're certain the raw milk you buy is clean and bacteria free (harmful bacteria, that is) because it comes from inspected and certified dairies?
If so, then you'll believe just about anything. If you're going to drink raw milk I'm sure there are some dairies that are more diligent than others. But to claim that a certain dairy can offer raw milk that is free of pathogens is one serious stretch. For example:
From 2001-2003, 316 bulk tank milk samples from dairy herds across the United States were tested for coxiella burnettii. The researchers found that 94% of these raw milk holding tanks contained the pathogen while 90% of the US dairy herds sampled carried it.
Coxiella burnetii in bulk tank milk samples, United States
You can lower your risk by carefully choosing the dairy supplying raw milk, but don't believe for a second that just because you've chosen carefully you've eliminated the risk of consuming dangerous bacteria. Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
These were holding tanks, that does not mean the milk in them was not destined to be pasteurized. I would expect a holding tank to show such rates, especially if from regular large scale dairies. And I fully support pasteurization for such milk.
Not all dairies should be certified or even try to offer raw milk. Because it is not practical or safe for them to do so. But those dairies that follow accepted safety standards and regulations and which can verify the same should be allowed to offer raw milk for sale. And I should be allowed to drink it if I choose to.
In another post I provided a link to standards that have been set by the Raw Usa, these standards are voluntary as far as I know but adherence to them reduces risk (not eliminates) and gives consumers confidence in their food choice.
If you want to discuss food safety keep in mind most outbreak illnesses have originated in FDA sanctioned facilities and that pasteurization does not protect against all bacterial illness.
Here is the testing guidelines from Raw Usa which I sort of doubt were applied to the milk in that holding tank. Which as I said you never showed was destined for sale as raw milk.
Bacteria standards for RAW USA certified milk includes monthly testing for pathogens including the presence of Salmonella, Ecoli 0157 H-7, Listeria Monocytogenes. If the local regulatory agency performs these tests then no additional tests are required.
Bacteria standards for raw milk includes testing for SPCs which shall be less than 15,000 SPC on a three out of five samples basis. Tests shall be completed one time per month. Any time a test is higher than the standard then tests will be increased in frequency to one time per week until tests show compliance with standards.
If the test sequence fails the standards then raw milk will not be sold to the public for human consumption until a test shows compliance with standards. Testing results must be kept for a minimum of three years.
There are no Coliform, LPC or Somatic Cell Count (SCC) test standards for raw milk under these standards. All RAW USA standards meet or exceed the same standards as Grade A Raw Milk for human consumption in California under CDFA.
All animals in the herd must test negative for TB and Brucellosis on initial test and then once every two years. Any new additions to the herd must be tested prior to being added to the herd. All positives must be removed from the herd immediately.
All raw milk must be chilled to below 40 degrees within one hour after milk is drawn from animals. Immediate Flash or heat exchanger chilling is recommended. No RAW USA raw diary product will ever be exposed to heat above 102 degrees F at any time, assuring that enzymes and bacteria are undamaged, alive, active and healthy.
All stored or packaged raw milk to be kept at or below 40 degrees until consumer sale (34-36 degrees is preferred).
All milking parlors and equipment, milk houses, milk handling and bottling equipment shall be kept clean according to the standards required by the local county or state milk sanitation standards for Grade A milk production. No sterilizers may be used including quaternary ammonias. All hot water washes and cleaning of equipment and tanks shall be documented on a daily records log. If possible, a recording chart should be used to document temperatures and cleaning procedures.
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