Milk Archives

Our Tainted Milk

Received this from the Health Sciences Institute:

THE BANDITS YOU TRUST

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

April 15, 2002

**************************************************************

Dear Reader,

It's a little late for April Fool's. And I don't think that
Associated Press reporters are known for their senses of humor.
But nonetheless, this is the headline that I read on the AP
website yesterday:

"Police: Someone is Sneaking onto New York Dairy Farms and
Contaminating Milk With Antibiotics."

To borrow a phrase from Dave Barry, I am not making this up.
Dairy farmers are actually up in arms that someone has been
contaminating their cows and their milk with antibiotics.

I guess they figure that's their job.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Nobody's sneaking - the contamination is blatant
--------------------------------------------------------------

Really, if it's suddenly illegal to contaminate milk, the police
are going to have to issue an arrest warrant for nearly every
dairy farmer in America. Because every day, most farmers
intentionally contaminate their milk - not only with
antibiotics, but growth hormones as well.

Most farmers regularly add antibiotics to their animals' feed as
a preventative measure, to protect against infections that
spread quickly through herds due to the animals' crowded living
conditions. (This isn't just true of dairy farmers, it's also
widespread practice in raising cattle, chickens, pigs, you name
it.) On top of that, dairy cows that are being continuously
milked often develop an udder infection called mastitis - and,
as a result, are treated with antibiotic injections. (Guess what
the leading cause of mastitis in dairy cows is? More on that
later.)

The mainstream will tell you that these antibiotics don't make
it into the milk supply, and pose no threat to humans. They'll
point to the tests that are done on milk before packaging, which
are supposed to screen for "contaminants." But many independent
tests have shown that the milk on grocery store shelves DOES
contain antibiotic residues - either as a result of shoddy
screening or the use of illegal antibiotics that can't be
detected under current procedures. In fact, in one study
conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest
(CSPI), about 38 percent of milk on grocery store shelves
contained antibiotic residues from illegal antibiotics.

You can't discuss antibiotic use in the dairy industry without
talking about hormone use as well. Bovine growth hormone use is
perhaps an even greater threat - and it is a key cog in this
vicious cycle. Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) is a
genetically engineered hormone that is regularly injected into
dairy cows to artificially increase their milk production. So
how does that relate to antibiotics? Well, cows given rBGH are
also MUCH more likely to develop mastitis (even the manufacturer
of rBGH warns that it may increase mastitis incidence as much as
80 percent). And you know what mastitis leads to - more
antibiotic use, and more antibiotic residues in our milk. (There
are other documented risks associated with rBGH, but that's a
topic for another time.)

--------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone's red-handed
--------------------------------------------------------------

All of this has been going on for years. And, around the world,
groups of concerned consumers have been raising the issue and
asking for better controls. For the most part, those concerns
have gone unheard.

But now, the police are on the job - because farmers are losing
money. (To clarify, it seems they can only sell milk that THEY
fill with antibiotics.) Since the incidents began in the fall,
about 44,000 gallons of milk have had to be trashed,
representing a loss of about $49,000 for the dairy farmers in
western New York.

The article says they have "no suspects," although they are
looking "any number of places, from animal rights groups opposed
to dairy farm practices to disgruntled farmers or employees."

Yes, the dairy farmers just can't seem to imagine who would do
something like this - other than themselves, that is.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

I guess this is why I drink organic (not that I drink a lot of it anyway). Wish I could get raw milk as easily, but Florida does not allow the sale of raw milk. I wonder why!!

Namaste`

Joanie

Re: Our Tainted Milk

Re: I didn't write the article - just passing on some info I received. nmi

Re: Our Tainted Milk (Archive in milk.)

Re: Our Tainted Milk (Archive in milk.)

Can you get me raw butter?

Re: Our Tainted Milk (Archive in milk.)

Re: Can you get me raw butter?

Re: Can you get me raw butter?

Re: Our Tainted Milk (Archive in milk.)

Re: Can you get me raw butter?

Re: Our Tainted Milk (Archive in milk.)

Thanks. I'll check it out. nmi

Re: Can you get me raw butter?