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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Oct 14 2009 at 6:44am | IP Logged
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ShawnaB wrote:
Here's the thing...any food you consume carries the risk of food poisening. In fact, if you ever eat in a restaurant, you are definitely taking that chance. And here's a few other common sense things to consider:
The chance of salmonella or ecoli contamination high enough to make you sick in milk is relatively low. Even if manure gets into the milk and you consumed it, gross as it is, chances are that the manure does not have pathenogenic ecoli present. Most manure does not (not that I want to eat it though). And, if by chance you did consume a high count of ecoli or salmonella, enough to make you sick, it is highly probable that you will not die, but rather make a full recover. Many people get ecoli every year and don't even know they have it...they just figure they have a little stomach "bug", in which case they do! |
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See, this makes sense to me. I have a hard time believing that God would make it sooooooooooooo hard to have clean milk that it requires an FDA, kwim?
I'm going to keep poking around and see what I can come up with, locally.
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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stefoodie
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| Posted: Oct 14 2009 at 8:21am | IP Logged
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Books, besides the Real Milk folks you might want to try finding a locavore group where you are -- enter your city + locavore into Google; if there's a group usually it's a network of farmers/consumers/chefs in your area and they'll have lots of information that can help you.
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stef
mom to five
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Oct 14 2009 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Stef. That is helpful.
I made yogurt yesterday from pasteurized organic whole milk. It turned out *amazing* and it doesn't have the powdered milk in it. I am shocked because I got really different results from grocery store whole milk than from the organic. Maybe there's more fat in it? Anyway, I am looking forward to turning it into greek yogurt tomorrow. Yum!
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Karen T
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| Posted: Oct 17 2009 at 9:22am | IP Logged
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ShawnaB wrote:
Here's the thing...any food you consume carries the risk of food poisening. In fact, if you ever eat in a restaurant, you are definitely taking that chance. And here's a few other common sense things to consider:
The chance of salmonella or ecoli contamination high enough to make you sick in milk is relatively low. Even if manure gets into the milk and you consumed it, gross as it is, chances are that the manure does not have pathenogenic ecoli present. Most manure does not (not that I want to eat it though). And, if by chance you did consume a high count of ecoli or salmonella, enough to make you sick, it is highly probable that you will not die, but rather make a full recover. Many people get ecoli every year and don't even know they have it...they just figure they have a little stomach "bug", in which case they do!
In modern times, when milk production was commercialized, animals kept in close concentration and filthy conditions, fed an unnatural diet, there was not refridgeration...yes people got sick, and pasteurization was life-saving. Rampant antibiotic use made things worse by killing off all but the most resistant bugs.
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Exactly! Books, I think you have read Planck's Real Foods, right? She details in there, I"m pretty sure, about how the whole issue of tuberculosis became a problem in dairy cows (which is far more serious than e. coli) - cows were being kept in close confinement and fed leftover hops from the nearby breweries. I don't remember if this is in her book or in The Omnivore's Dilemma(which is just as good as Planck's book, if you haven't read it) but since cows' rumens (stomach) were made to eat grass, feeding them grains changes the pH of the contents drastically, allowing the more highly pathogenic E. coli, responsible for the deadly contaminated beef outbreaks, to flourish. Healthy cows which are eating only grass, will have only the normal gut bacteria, including E. coli, but much less pathogenic.
I just started getting raw milk from a Mennonite dairy in PA, just over the state line from me (not legal to sell here in MD). I've talked with the farmer and he is inspected by the state, just like commercial dairies, but he also tests his cows on his own 8 times more frequently than they require! Not saying that's necessary but it's comforting, still 
Unfortunately I haven't been able to convince dh of the value of this milk, since it costs a little more than twice what regular, non-organic milk costs (my dh is of the opinion that we all grew up eating/drinking non-organic, non-pasteurized, etc and are just fine). I love it b/c I'm lactose intolerant of regular milk, and the lactose-free stuff in the store costs as much as the raw, pasture-fed milk, but he doesn't really believe me. So for now I won't be getting more raw milk, unless I can convince him to change his mind 
Luckily, the same farmer also sells organic,pasture-fed beef, and it is roughly the same price as grocery store non-organic, PLUS it's so lean I'm really getting more for the money. I recently cooked 1.48 lbs of regular 80/20 ground beef and after pouring off all the fat, weighed it as 15 oz! With the grass-fed beef, I can barely pour off 1/2 tsp of grease.
Karen T
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DeAnn M
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| Posted: Oct 19 2009 at 2:09pm | IP Logged
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Just a quick note here. I was definitely nervous about giving raw milk to our family at first...as in I thought they would all immediately begin to throw up. 
However, within a week, various allergies and ailments began to dissolve in our family.
My husband and I went away this past weekend and our milk delivery was delayed...A friend picked it up and I could not get it before we left. I was honestly so scared that my kids would get sick from the organic store milk that my parents bought for them. I thought that was ironic. Actually, my 14 mo. old had tummy troubles and a terrible diaper rash that cleared up as soon as he started drinking the raw milk again.
Just make sure you know your source!
Blessings,
DeAnn
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lamamaloca
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| Posted: Oct 19 2009 at 2:42pm | IP Logged
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ShawnaB wrote:
The chance of salmonella or ecoli contamination high enough to make you sick in milk is relatively low. Even if manure gets into the milk and you consumed it, gross as it is, chances are that the manure does not have pathenogenic ecoli present. Most manure does not (not that I want to eat it though). And, if by chance you did consume a high count of ecoli or salmonella, enough to make you sick, it is highly probable that you will not die, but rather make a full recover. Many people get ecoli every year and don't even know they have it...they just figure they have a little stomach "bug", in which case they do! |
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I thought the major concern with raw milk products is lysteria, which is unlikely to cause significant sickness but if an expectant mother contracts it may result in stillbirth, even if she doesn't get very ill. I've known of people getting this from soft/unpasteurized cheeses.
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Becky
Mom to Pauly, Roger and Rosemarie
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Raw Milk
