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Mothers crying over raw milk
The Washington Times ^ | May 16, 2011 | Stephen Dinan

Posted on 05/17/2011 5:36:05 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Four weeks after the government moved to shut down Amish farmer Dan Allgyer for selling fresh, unpasteurized milk across state lines, angry moms who made up much of his customer base rallied on the Capitol’s grounds Monday to demand that Congress rein in the food police.

The moms milked a cow just across the street from the Senate and served up gallons of fresh milk, playfully daring one another to drink what, if sold across state lines, would be considered contraband product.

“The FDA really screwed up this time. They got between a mom and a farmer,” said Mark McAfee, who runs Organic Pastures Dairy Co. in Fresno, Calif., which under his state’s laws he legally sells at 400 markets, but which he cannot ship across state lines without running afoul of the Food and Drug Administration.

Raw milk has been making a comeback in recent years as consumers try to eat locally and fresh. But the FDA has been fighting back, arguing that there are big risks to drinking fresh milk and that it brings no benefits over the pasteurized version.

The most recent action to garner headlines came last month when the FDA went to court to stop Mr. Allgyer, the Amish farmer who runs Rainbow Acres Farm in Kinzer, Pa., from selling his raw milk to an eager customer base in the Washington region.

The FDA and the Justice Department sought a court injunction after FDA agents conducted a one-year sting operation, complete with fake aliases and lab testing, to determine that the milk they surreptitiously obtained from Mr. Allgyer was, in fact, unpasteurized.

Mr. Allgyer was not at Monday’s rally, but his defenders were infuriated that he had been targeted, and said it shows a government out of control.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Pennsylvania; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: allgyer; amish; bhofda; fda; foodnazis; foodpolice; health; interstatecommerce; milk; nannystate; organic; protest; rainbowacresfarm; rawmilke; regulation; restrictions
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To: Balding_Eagle
“they tend to be religious in nature”

Almost anything about diet seems to engender an almost fanatical devotion to pseudo-scientific and or mystical outlandish claims. Clearly outlined scientific principles must, as a necessity, take a back seat to anecdote of what worked when nothing else did, etc, etc.

There are posters who will tell you that diet is both the cause of and cure for cancer. And they don't want to hear about no darn DNA - it is all “purities” and “impurities” like a religion.

81 posted on 05/17/2011 8:13:50 PM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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To: allmendream
Look, as I said, I have IBS. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I cannot tolerate processed milk. You can spout anything you like. It won't change fact. Raw milk doesn't bother it.

You and the others can let government tell you what to eat and they can be your nanny. I don't mind. DUDE.

Goodnight.

82 posted on 05/17/2011 8:16:58 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are at your door! How will you answer the knock?)
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To: brytlea

Funny thing, I have learned tht different breeds’ milk tastes differently. Some not to my taste either.
My youngest couldn’t drink store cow’s milk and I wound up buying a goat.


83 posted on 05/17/2011 8:17:21 PM PDT by bog trotter
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To: allmendream

Correct.

It’s the ‘Science Be Damned’, ‘historical records are just a lie’ that keeps me off of these threads.

Frankly, I’m not even sure why I clicked on this one.


84 posted on 05/17/2011 8:18:53 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle
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To: bog trotter
Yup. And I can't believe all the "conservatives" that don't mind government intervention in their diets. Unbelievable.

Have a good night.

85 posted on 05/17/2011 8:19:38 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are at your door! How will you answer the knock?)
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To: DJ MacWoW
Wow dude, like I totally wasn't for the government getting in the way of anyone like drinking all the raw milk they wanted.

I just wanted to correct the idea that homogenization makes milk indigestible - it doesn't.

It also doesn't magically make lactose intolerance go away. People who do not express the gene for lactase in adulthood are not suddenly lactose inducible because you fed them RAW milk.

Raw milk isn't magic.

Homog milk isn't indigestible.

Your own digestive problems and proclivities don't really interest me.

The truth does.

86 posted on 05/17/2011 8:20:33 PM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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To: allmendream
Raw milk has the enzyme lactase in it, that pasteurization kills. That makes digestion easier for people with lactose intolerance. That's the difference.
87 posted on 05/17/2011 8:26:41 PM PDT by MetaThought
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I have mixed feelings about this. The reason milk was regulated to begin with is because many diseases were spread by unpasturized milk. I know T.B. for one was thought to be spread that way, and I think other serious illnesses of the time were also linked to milk. When families had a milk cow and truly drank the milk they milked fresh daily I don’t think there were many issues. When dairies started having many cows to produce milk for many people and it had to be transported that process makes it more likely for the milk to make people sick.


88 posted on 05/17/2011 8:30:54 PM PDT by Tammy8 (~Secure the border and deport all illegals- do it now! ~ Support our Troops!~)
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To: MetaThought
So very very not true - but at LEAST you came up with a plausible mechanism!!!

From the American Council on Science and Health

http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.81/news_detail.asp

First, lactase is produced (in humans and other animals) by cells lining the small intestine — it is not present in milk! The only dairy product in which one could reasonably expect to find lactase is yogurt. And even in that case, the bacteria that actually produce the lactase are added to milk after pasteurization, so they're not heated to high temperatures.

Second, even if there were lactase in milk, it wouldn't do us much good. That's because this enzyme works best in the small intestine, where it is formed. The highly acidic environment of the stomach would inactivate it. So even if we drank milk with active lactase in it, it's unlikely that much if any of it would survive the stomach acid and arrive in the small intestine in an active state.

89 posted on 05/17/2011 8:31:34 PM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Thanks for the ping!


90 posted on 05/17/2011 8:40:12 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

What’s being left unsaid is Mr. Allgyr’s actions bypass the “dairy industry” and the huge bureaucracy created to manage it.......

If “raw” milk was dangerous no dairy farmers’ families would exist !! Most, if not all, of the “concerns” expressed by the “nannies” no longer exist, thanks to refrigeration and modern dairy equipment. These days milk goes from “tit to glass” without ever having been exposed to stable “contaminants”. IOW doesn’t matter if that cow steps in s**t on her way to the milking parlor. Once there the udder and teats, (to give them their proper nomenclature), are washed and sanitized. Milk is piped in glass/stainless steel from teat to storage while being examined/filtered enroute.

Lactating mammels’ milk contains bacteria enabling its digestion. Pasteurization kills them. “Homogenization” breaks up the natural fat globules into such small size some experienced dairmen feel they can pass - undigested - into the bloodstream.....shortcircuiting the very process the bacteria nature intended the bacteria to perform.....

Small wonder we have so many “lactose intolerant” people. Their gut lacks the natural bacterial flora neccessary to digest milk. >PS


91 posted on 05/17/2011 8:53:00 PM PDT by PiperShade
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To: DJ MacWoW

Actually it is not true that beef cattle are regularly given antibiotics. It is very rare for them to get them, especially in recent years. Cattle on pasture are almost never given them; years ago feedyards would dose every animal that arrived with antibiotics- the thinking was it was preventative because so many animals would be kept in such a small space- they were young animals and prone to many different illnesses right after arrival. Think of children in daycare spreading colds, flu, and things like that. When the issue of antibiotics in meat possibly being a problem came up feedyards quit dosing all of the animals and changed many of their practices. My hubby managed a feedyard in the 1980s and they seperated only animals that actually became ill, and on the advise of a Vet. some were treated with antibiotics- but if an animal did receive them it had to be so many days from slaughter and if the animal had to have very much they were taken out of the human consumption chain. Very few drugs are given to beef cattle during their life span now- BUT...most are vaccinated for a variety of things as babies just as human babies are. Many are also given growth hormones at some point in their life which is also an issue. People do have a choice to buy natural beef that has not been vaccinated or given hormones but it is much more expensive since production is lower for the producer.

I do think if people want raw milk it should be their choice. I have heard that what they do in England is plainly label all raw milk and it has a warning on the label that it could be dangerous. I think the U.S. should do something along those lines and let people make up their own minds. Most of my life I drank raw milk, but it was my mother that told me that raw milk can cause serious illness. Our milk cow was always kept seperate from other cattle, and we were always very careful to keep everything very clean and if the cow even gave us a hint she might not be 100% healthy we didn’t drink the milk. We also drank/used the milk the same day it came from the cow and tossed what was left every evening.


92 posted on 05/17/2011 9:40:17 PM PDT by Tammy8 (~Secure the border and deport all illegals- do it now! ~ Support our Troops!~)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

A government out of control. No chit!! You can thank all the RINO’s who voted for the Food Safety Act. It gives the FDA unlimited powers of search and seizure and you have no judicial redress.

There is going to come a tipping point here shortly as the govt gets in everyone’s face one time too many. Americans are not used to a boot on their throat.


93 posted on 05/17/2011 9:51:15 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: bog trotter

Well now, that’s interesting. I didn’t know that. I have a friend with milk goats, but she uses the milk to make soap.


94 posted on 05/17/2011 10:30:48 PM PDT by brytlea (If you don't know what APOD is you'd better find out!)
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To: PiperShade

I wonder if that’s why some people with lactose intolerance can eat cheese? Is some of the bacteria reintroduced?


95 posted on 05/17/2011 10:34:54 PM PDT by brytlea (If you don't know what APOD is you'd better find out!)
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To: allmendream

In general I’m a skeptic about claims and I want scientific proof of things. But I think the reason for what you call “almost fanatical devotion to pseudo-scientific and or mystical outlandish claims” when it comes to dietary things is that they probably had some health issue that appeared to get better when they changed their diet in some way. I am not claiming that they are correct because it could easily have been a coincidence, OR it could be that the dietary change did indeed make the difference but not for the reasons they suppose.

I myself have been battling a health problem that seems to at least partially be relieved by not eating wheat. I cannot fathom exactly why, because I don’t believe I am celiac. However, even my neurologist says, “Yeah, avoid wheat.” since it seems to help. I’m not going to make any wild claims, however, because I really haven’t done anything to test it. And yeah, I know this doesn’t really interest you. I’m only saying, I bet this is why people get that attitude. But yes, I also know why it’s frustrating. I like real science too.

And I would like to be able to get raw milk if I wanted to, just because I don’t want the government telling me I couldn’t. If the milk producers refused to sell it to me because THEY thought it was a bad idea, that would be fine with me. I just don’t like some politician (who is probably responding to a lobbyist somewhere) passing a law about what I can and cannot eat. I really doubt his goal is to keep me safe. I suspect if you dig hard enough we’d find it’s to get some money/votes into his hands. And that’s dirtier than anything the cows ever step in.


96 posted on 05/17/2011 10:47:51 PM PDT by brytlea (If you don't know what APOD is you'd better find out!)
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To: allmendream; DJ MacWoW

Meow! Screech! Hiss! Spit!


97 posted on 05/17/2011 10:59:58 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Hawk)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER

When you are wrong it pays to go all the way. You can milk any kind of cow, it is all the same, and those hamburgers you get at your local joint are canners and cutters, another word for old cow.


98 posted on 05/17/2011 11:40:13 PM PDT by org.whodat
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To: Cicero

We got raw milk from local dairies (farms) here in PA for 20 years. We took the glass bottles back and turned them in and got full bottles. All the dairies had their bottles with their names on them, and over time they got all mixed up as people took bottles back to different dairies. We have a collection of about 10 bottles from different dairies. We never had any problems. In the late 90’s the last nearby dairy closed.


99 posted on 05/18/2011 3:20:35 AM PDT by Old_Grouch (almost 64 and AARP-free. Monthly FR contributor.)
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To: brytlea
In Cheese the majority of the lactose is digested by during the cheese (or yogurt) making process.

Most lactose intolerant populations still do make and eat cheese (and/or yogurt).

Almost all mammals shut down lactase inducibility sometime after they are weened - but Northern Europeans and some African cattle herding populations have mutations in the regulatory DNA sequence that would accomplish this - so they continue to express lactase (when lactose is present) throughout life.

100 posted on 05/18/2011 6:30:01 AM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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