U.S. Milk Banned in Europe
For as long as I can remember, milk has been advertised as a product that "does a body good". Perhaps the time has come to question the validity of this statement. A couple months ago, I wrote a blog about the continued debate over whether or not individuals should have the right to access, buy, and consume raw milk. There are growing numbers of people who believe raw milk can not only help maintain health but can also cure a huge range of illnesses. Of course, there are also many who remain either skeptical or even outraged by these claims. I suggested in my post that pasteurized milk, because of its highly processed nature, may in fact be causing health issues and have recently found news that further supports this claim. In fact, European governments have deemed U.S produced milk so dangerous that they have banned it completely.
Dr. Samuel Epstein, author, professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, recently discussed cancer prevention with Dr. Joseph Mercola, leading health activist in the field of alternative healthcare. Their discussion focused on several health dangers that currently receive little attention, one of which is milk.
What should we know about milk in this country?
Much of American milk is genetically modified, meaning it contains a genetically modified bovine growth hormone called rBGH. American dairy farmers inject rBGH into dairy cows to increase milk production. Milk that has been produced in this way contains very high levels of a natural growth factor known as IGF-1. Roughly 20 publications have shown that increased levels of this growth factor increases risks of breast cancer, 10 publications show that it increases risk of colon cancer, and another 10 show that it increases risk of prostate cancer. Besides risks for humans it also causes extreme sickness, and often death, for the cows themselves.
After some of these major concerns were expressed in 1999, the United Nations Food and Safety Agency, representing a hundred nations worldwide, unanimously decided not to set safety standards for rBGH milk, resulting in an international ban on U.S. milk. As far as milk in the states in concerned, the FDA has prohibited retailers from labeling a product "hormone free", claiming that such a label could be misleading (in other words, the label would suggest that milk produced with hormones is bad, possibly causing a decrease in sales for major commerical dairy companies).
Take a look at these articles for more information:
So what can we do to make change, and/or to make sure we still have an option to consume naturally healthy dairy products?
Check out this article from the Weston Price foundation where the author suggests completely eliminating commercial milk from your diet, and then finding a source of real milk in your area. The article also gives a much more in depth look at the production process for milk products in this country. As health activists, besides educating ourselves, we can also make the FDA aware that we disapprove of their restrictions on labeling.
Are there any other steps we can take to increase awareness about this issue? Would you like to see labels on milk products that contains hormones or do you think the issue is not worth the fight?
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Comment by myQutekelly on April 29, 2010 at 2:14pm -
Great topic this is - thank you JodyG! I don't think it's worth the fight (as I am a vegan) as long as cows are continually jabbed with antibiotics and fake hormones that gives them swollen udders. I do well with Hemp Milk and Almond Milk. I don't miss beef (although I kinda miss chicken!)
Finding a source of real milk in your area
That's a good idea except we do not have any access to any local milk farms here in Singapore....we've got zero! In fact, we get our nearest milk from Malaysia (our neighbour) and that is commercial milk.
If you have a local farm, ask for raw unpasteurized milk (they have their original vitamins and minerals retained as much as possible).
There's a flip side to raw milk though. I heard from several trial lawyers that Salmonella poisoning can still be found in raw milk, so I am not so sure what activists can do about this. You do not want a reduction in poisoning, you want to be 100% confidential you're not gonna suffer from drinking raw milk!
For those who drink milk and eat beef, have all rights to demand for healthier commercial milk and beef. How strict would 'strict' labelling be? Would it require all ingredients on raw materials as well? For example, if maltodextrin is labelled, would it have to be mandatory to say if maltodextrin contain aspartame. And will manufacturers agree to more precise labelling? What do the others think?
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Comment by Ellen S on April 29, 2010 at 2:57pm -
JodyG,
This is a subject near and dear to my heart. We're lucky to live in an area where it's not beyond the scope of possibility to find raw milk. I didn't know it had been banned elsewhere - SHOCKING. I'll be tweeting and FBing this for sure. Thanks so much!
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Comment by Angie on April 29, 2010 at 5:08pm -
My son & I have had such problems with milk. I have been buying soy milk but my son's allergic to soy. So I have been trying organic lactose free milk. I had no idea US milk was banned anywhere. Its frightening to find out milk has become so "unnatural" in the effort to make it profitable. SCARY. What's this doing to our kids? What health problems are going to be revealed in the next decade?
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Comment by Satori on May 2, 2010 at 2:24am -
Hi Jody,
Your article relates to two fields of personal interest: working towards a clean body and how clearly selfish "higher authorities" are. I think we are all aware of this, but there are many theories surrounding where recent health epidemics/near catastrophes really stemmed from. Anyhow, as this was the first time I had heard of raw milk, I decided to do some research.
The closest source of raw milk near my area is a beautiful farm in Natick. As I sifted through their website for more information on RM, I found that MA had (successfully) taken strides to shut down this farm's production of raw goat's milk (which, according to this article1 is the best for you.
At this point I started to get worried about the true health benefits of RM (according to the, ahem, incredibly credible F.D.A. RM is actually bad for your health). But instead of relying on even more credible sources (I hope my sarcasm is oozing through the screen) like articles from major news sources, I decided to check out yelp.com for reviews on RM from real people. What I found was exactly parallel to your research above - that RM was, for lack of better words, awesome.
Unfortunately, for most people it's incredibly inconvenient to actually get RM. Therefore, an economical and reliable movement began called Just Dairy - basically, a car pool. I googled them almost immediately, and was not surprised to find that their website is currently invalid. I *wonder* what happened...
So what can the frustrated, health-conscious Bostonian/American do to conveniently get our hands on some RM? According to "The Wonder of Raw Milk" , a close alternative is the one non-ultra-pasteurized organic milk which is available at Trader Joe Markets. Check out this excerpt:
Locating and paying for raw milk is still problematic for many. I
have presented my “best solution” which is a “distant second best”
with our Dan’s Milk recipe which calls for mixing pasteurized, non-ul-
tra-pasteurized, fat free milk with pasteurized, non-ultra-pasteurized
heavy cream. This avoids homogenization, but not pasteurization, while
providing the full fat content of whole milk. It is best to make it into
yogurt. Most organic milk is ultra-pasteurized, both in supermarkets
and in health food stores. I have only found one non-ultra-pasteurized
organic milk which is at Trader Joe Markets (also carries non-ultra-
pasteurized heavy cream). Even though “homogenized” is on the milk
label, this is a non issue in fat free milk. Trader Joe’s fat free organic
pasteurized milk also does not contain extra dry milk solids which is
problematic but found in most fat free milk.
This is great - we can drink healthy milk at home - but my true concern lies with the unbelievable rise in popularity of coffee in recent years: with so many lattes, cappuccinos etc being served on a daily basis, can you imagine how many people are being negatively affected?
Instead of appealing to the deaf, money-minded, and corrupt ears of the F.D.A., we should instead be appealing to major coffee house companies. Can you imagine what would happen if Starbucks became a proponent of raw milk? Or even organic non-ultra pasteurized milk? It would be revolutionary. Basically I think the only way this would happen is if it would become "trendy" to drink clean milk...It can start with a celebrity speaking out...Ha, like Lady Gaga ;)
OR it could just start with an overall worldwide movement towards more natural products. How would this happen? Two words: Bikram Yoga.
With Bikram's popularity on the rise, I think it's just about time that people are going to switch entirely to natural food/products. So I really wouldn't be too worried about the unavailability and false claims regarding RM...The more hot yoga picks up, the more individuals will become interested in the truth about all these hormone-induced foods. Soon, these contaminated products will just be a part of history.
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