#Unpasteurized Milk

[tomorrowusa]

The latest far right fad is raw milk. Perhaps they regard Louis Pasteur as a woke socialist. Seriously, government health advisories about raw milk only make it more attractive to the conspiracy theory fringe.

Commentators on sites like Infowars, Gab and Rumble have grown increasingly vocal about raw milk in recent weeks. They see the government’s heightened concerns about the dangers as overreach. “They say: ‘Bird flu in milk! Bird flu in milk! Oh, it’s the scariest thing!’” Owen Shroyer said on the April 29 episode of his “War Room” podcast from Infowars. He added: “They’ll just make raw milk illegal. That’s what this is all about.” Public health officials have long warned Americans of the severe health risks that can come with drinking raw milk instead of pasteurized milk, which is heated to kill bacteria, viruses and other germs. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 200 disease outbreaks linked to unpasteurized milk from 1998 to 2018, leading to 2,645 illnesses, 228 hospitalizations and three deaths.

The far right, including anti-vaxxers, seems to have an affinity for pathogens. Either that or they feel that pathogens don't really exist and perhaps were made up by Hillary Clinton and George Soros. Whatever they think, don't expect them to make sense.

Contrary to claims, there’s little or no evidence that drinking raw milk provides health benefits, including protection from certain infectious diseases, said Dr. Megin Nichols, the deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases at the C.D.C. The Food and Drug Administration says pasteurizing milk kills the virus. The F.D.A. said in a statement that there are no scientifically proven benefits to drinking raw milk and that “the health risks are clear.”

Epidemics get rightwingers agitated. The latest bird flu outbreak has them acting like mad cows.

Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog that looked at the trend this month, said raw milk promotion had been intensifying on the right since the start of the bird flu outbreak. “What you have is a bunch of right-wing influencers who know that they can build substantial audiences and retain their audiences and excite their audiences by telling them that what medical authorities are saying about raw milk, about bird flu, is not credible,” Mr. Gertz said.

Basically the wingnuts are telling people: Don't trust science, trust Infowars instead! Paranoia is good for clicks.

As for bird flu, there is clear evidence of it being easily transmissible between mammals.

After mice drink raw H5N1 milk, bird flu virus riddles their organs

Despite the delusions of the raw milk crowd, drinking unpasteurized milk brimming with infectious avian H5N1 influenza virus is a very bad idea, according to freshly squeezed data published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison squirted raw H5N1-containing milk from infected cows into the throats of anesthetized laboratory mice, finding that the virus caused systemic infections after the mice were observed swallowing the dose. The illnesses began quickly, with symptoms of lethargy and ruffled fur starting on day 1. [ ... ] Before the mouse data, numerous reports have noted carnivores falling ill with H5N1 after eating infected wild birds. And a study from March in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reported that over half of the 24 or so cats on an H5N1-infected dairy farm in Texas died after drinking raw milk from the sick cows. Before their deaths, the cats displayed distressing neurological symptoms, and studies found the virus had invaded their lungs, brains, hearts, and eyes.

So we have bovines, rodents, and felines all being infected by H5N1. Several primates (i.e. humans) have also been infected. But generally, humans whose health practices are influenced by the germ theory of infection stand a darn good chance of avoiding it.

Fortunately, for the bulk of Americans who heed germ theory, pasteurization appears completely effective at deactivating the virus in milk, according to thorough testing by the FDA. Pasteurized milk is considered safe during the outbreak.

As with 17th century patriarchy and religious practices, the fringe right seems eager to return to the medical dark ages before germ theory and vaccination. In the century between 1870 and 1970 life expectancy almost doubled because of related discoveries. The far right seems to have some sort of death wish.

Vote for pro-science candidates. Support groups like 314 Action which are dedicated to electing candidates with a science background.

About Us - 3.14 Action

[swimmerhorner-blog]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[crackermuffin-blog]

Chocolate Ice Box Cookies with Walnuts and Chocolate Chips

  I just received a wonderful gift from Suzanne, my lovely neighbor: Fresh unpasteurized milk!!! Mmmmmmmmmm! I had to make these cookies to go with them. 

Make them:

1/4 cup of butter

1/2 cup of sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole grain wheat or spelt flour

1/2 cup of cocoa (3/4 cup if you like them extra chocolaty)

handful of any nuts you like (almonds or hazelnuts would be yummy!)

pinch of salt

Then....

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together

2. Cream the butter and sugar then add the egg in and whisk till it all comes together

3. Add the dry to the wet

4. Add more flour to make the dough a bit dryer so that it's not gloopy but can hold it's shape

5. Put a third of it in a line on some plastic wrap and form it into a log or square or triangle - whatever shape you like. Continue with the rest of the dough.

6. Freeze for at least a half hour

7. Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Slice the dough logs up and place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. 

Enjoy with fresh cold milk!

[becoolinary]

insert cow joke here

This morning I had real milk for the first time. I can't really say that all the other milk I have been drinking has been fake necessarily, but this milk says it's real on the label and I believe it. It tasted real. Real delicious.

It's from Sea Breeze Farm over on Vashon Island. Specifically it is from Luna, Pearl, Chocolate Soup, Maggie, Strawberry, and Cypress. Those are all the lucky lady cows that get to hang out on an island eating grass all day and in turn, they provide their tasty milk to fortunate fans, like myself. Last June, I was lucky enough to meet Chocolate Soup and although quiet, she seemed very nice. 

So this milk is different than other milk in that it hasn't been pasteurized. It is just straight up milk. And because of this, it has a warning on the label, as well as two warnings on the glass door of the refrigerator case where I bought it...

Who knew milk could be so dangerous! I feel so bold and reckless! The warnings are required by the WSDA to notify consumers that this milk could be potentially harmful to "pregnant women, children, the elderly, and those with lowered resistance to disease". I feel like this seems a bit excessive considering the fact that Europeans have been drinking unpasteurized milk for centuries and using it in cheese making for centuries, coupled with the fact that they are generally perceived as healthier than Americans (attractiveness is not the same as healthfulness). But then again, what do I know! I am just a twenty-something, not pregnant or immune-compromised newly converted fan of unpasteurized milk who is clearly not showing any ill-effects from my experiences with it, but whatever.

So what is pasteurization and why is most milk pasteurized (and why do you care)? Basically pasteurization is just heating a liquid up to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria. Most juices are pasteurized, some eggs are pasteurized, canning uses pasteurization, and when you boil water on a backpacking trip, that is also pasteurization. According to the knowledgeable internet, thousands of years ago, Asian cultures used this method to preserve their wine, and then, in the 1800's, some French dudes came to the same conclusion and now the whole shabang is named after one of them, which seems very unfair...

Anyway, these days, the modern dairy operation is a large scale, cowtastic, milking factory. I have toured a smaller one about thirty miles away from Seattle and it was a bit of a wake up call. There can be hundreds of cows, living in very close quarters, and it turns out they don't know how to use toilets so things can be a little messy to say the least. It only makes sense that whatever milk produced under these conditions would need to be pasteurized. The proper heating and cooling of milk from this type of operation is very important due to the nature of the cows' environment. If you are running a large scale dairy, you can't afford the consequences if you don't sterilize that milk and your consumers get sick. So, pasteurizing milk continues to be the norm. 

However, nowadays, with the resurgence of a more environmentally and health conscious way of eating, there is a growing number of small scale farms offering their goods to consumers, Sea Breeze being one of them (and an excellent one at that). And the conditions at these smaller operations are significantly different than at a large scale dairy. The cows go from having a number to having names, like my new friend Chocolate Soup. Their living conditions are quite a bit less crowded making the chances of exposure to other cows' health issues far more slim. The cows at Sea Breeze haven't figured out the toilet thing yet either, but at least they have more pasture and land to roam around on to take care of their business. In addition, because there are so few cows that are being milked at any one time, greater care and attention can be paid to those animals, ensuring they are healthy and that everything is working properly. The bottom line here is that there are only six dairy cows at Sea Breeze, making the chances of contamination quite slim compared to a 100 cow operation (which would still be considered small in the dairy industry). Of course, proper sanitation during milking and careful attention to temperature when handling and storing the milk is still essential in both cases, but the pasteurizing of milk under Sea Breeze-type conditions, I feel, is superfluous and unnecessary. And like I said, I did meet Chocolate Soup and she looked real pretty and nice so I can't see her sneaking nasty stuff into your milk anyway. She just wouldn't do that.

So if you are looking for a thrill, a tasty glass of real milk, or a way to support these kinds of small scale diary operations where Cypress and Strawberry can frolic in the pasture together like giddy school children, then buy a gallon of raw milk the next time you have the opportunity. You will find yourself (get ready for it) begging for moooooo-re!

[sandraharrison-blog]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[laurahharisson]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[tishatcasida]

Raw Milk – Let ME Decide What Is Dangerous or Not

Raw Milk – Let ME Decide What Is Dangerous or Not

In Minnesota, several lawmakers are trying to make it easier to purchase raw or unpasteurized milk (yay for representatives making laws to re-create a free market).  Big Dairy (large conglomerates of the food machine that seeks to not allow people to make free choices about what they eat or do not eat) is apparently fighting this.

Believe it or not, modern pasteurization as a process is…

[neteri-draconis]

I request help from the science side of tumblr

Kay, so my mom is into organics and she's switching just about everything in our house to organic or homemade. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that. It's food. There's nothing wrong with it, save being a little expensive.

Anyways, so, she's started talking about switching store-bought organic milk to raw milk. She says that it's better for you and it has more nutrients. I've grown up thinking that raw milk is dangerous and can make you sick. When I try to tell her this, she says that I've been "brainwashed".

My question is: Does she really have a point? Or is it just a bunch of BS?

[randytrx-blog]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[rossitherunner-blog]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[sandraharrison-blog]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses. The baby or fetus may also be susceptible to toxins that are present in the foods you eat, for example mercury in fish. Here is a list of foods you must avoid during pregnancy to ensure the health of the baby and the mother alike.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[buzzyneil-blog1]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses. The baby or fetus may also be susceptible to toxins that are present in the foods you eat, for example mercury in fish. Here is a list of foods you must avoid during pregnancy to ensure the health of the baby and the mother alike.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[triathleteliam-blog-blog]

During pregnancy the mother and the child are even more susceptible to certain bacteria that are housed in certain foods. These bacteria, parasites and viruses have the potential of causing foodborne illnesses. The baby or fetus may also be susceptible to toxins that are present in the foods you eat, for example mercury in fish. Here is a list of foods you must avoid during pregnancy to ensure the health of the baby and the mother alike.

Read more: http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy.html

[papirouge]

why can't USAmerican act normal about unpasteurized milk???

[ismellpestilence]

Very friendly reminder that bird flu, a disease we've been fighting to control for a very long time, has been found in raw milk.

I repeat: raw milk may contain bird flu.

This is not the time to fuck up here. If this disease spreads further we risk losing our livestock, or worse, we could be hit by another pandemic. The best thing we can do is avoid either of those happening.

The problem with a disease like the bird flu is that birds, well...fly. We need to be extremely careful to avoid infection. That includes keeping our cats indoors, stay up to date on your other vaccines, either thoroughly cleaning bird feeders or taking them down, and of course, stop fucking drinking raw milk.

[goatvetoz]

Results of raw (unpasteurized) goat milk and cheese microbiological examinations in the UK. UK goat farmers need to do better.