by David E. Gumpert of The Complete Patient
There is lots not to like about the new web site about raw milk from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. It is nearly totally one-sided in painting raw milk as dangerous. It is intellectually dishonest in not acknowledging large-scale journal-published research that demonstrates raw milk’s health benefits in reducing the incidence of asthma and allergies in children. It seems to have a connection with a product liability law firm that has been using its clients’ involvement in the site for its own promotion. On top of all that, it is taxpayer funded.
Ironically, when I watched the obvious site marquee–three videos of individuals who had been sickened, or had relatives sickened, by raw milk–I realized there could be something positive in the site, a teachable moment, as they say. The videos are difficult to watch because they are so sad and terrifying. And obviously, the CDC operatives want people to walk away from those videos feeling both teary-eyed and afraid, determined never ever to go anywhere near raw dairy products.
But what stood out to me about those videos is that each of the three individuals interviewed was new to raw milk when they or their relatives became ill. Other notable individuals who have become very sick from raw milk were similarly newbies–I’m thinking in particular about Lauren Herzog, the California girl who became sick at the same time as Mary McGonigle Martin’s son in 2006 (and chronicled a number of times on this site); and Mari Tardiff, the California woman who became paralyzed in 2008 after her first time drinking raw milk.
I’m not a scientist, but you don’t have to be a scientist to see the pattern. We certainly don’t have a large sampling to deal with, but then, we fortunately don’t have many individuals who become so ill from raw milk. Indeed, the ones I referred to above are probably the majority for the last five years. But just using the government’s own “data,” why not try to learn from these situations?
Statistically speaking, we know that raw milk isn’t a public health hazard– 50-150 reported illnesses each year isn’t a public health problem in a food system with 20,000 to 25,000 reported food-borne illnesses. Could raw milk producers do a better job in milk production so as to reduce the number? Absolutely, and I’ve chronicled here a movement to improve safety.
Read the Full Article Here: http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2011/1/26/why-not-try-to-learn-from-tragedies-involving-raw-milk-becau.html