Raw milk experts question 'dangerous' CDC findings

Updated: Fri Jan. 08 2010 15:29:23
Darcy Wintonyk, ctvbc.ca


Raw dairy enthusiasts are challenging lab results by the B.C. Centre for
Disease Control (BCCDC), saying samples of unpasteurized milk deemed
dangerous by the agency does not prove the product is unfit for
consumption. 

Earlier this week, the B.C. CDC warned consumers against drinking
unpasteurized milk from the Home on the Range Farm in the Fraser Valley,
citing fecal contamination found in five of 15 samples. 

The CDC said the products, including unpasteurized raw milk, yogurt,
cream, butter and cream cheese, were contaminated with germs from the
bowels of human or animals. 

The samples were obtained after several of the farm's raw milk depots
were given cease and desist orders by Fraser and Vancouver Coastal
Health in December. The shutdown was ordered after the CDC said a child
became sick after drinking raw milk. Fraser Health has not definitively
linked the illness to the product. 

CDC sampling results obtained by ctvbc.ca revealed bacteria counts in
the milk in excess of 15 times the amount allowable in Washington State,
B.C.'s closest regulated neighbour. The sale of unpasteurized dairy is
illegal in Canada, but coops like Home on the Range go around the law by
allowing members to own stakes in the farm -- making them part owners. 

Dr. John Carsley of Vancouver Coastal Health told ctvbc.ca the results
are a clear signal the milk isn't clean. 

"It's very hard to keep milk clean and that's why there's
pasteurization," Carsley said, adding recent independent testing confirm
the CDC's original findings. 

"We did this testing because the child got sick and it could make more
kids sick." 

But Mark McAfee, the CEO of California's largest and oldest raw milk
operation, said coliform counts aren't indicative of whether raw dairy
is unsafe to drink. 

"It doesn't tell you much about the milk but more about how it's
managed," he said from the Fresno-area farm. 

"Coliforms say how much exposure to air there is after milking, how
clean the lines are and the like -- how many valves it's gone through." 

McAfee, who created the first international safety standards for raw
milk, said normally occurring bacteria in raw dairy doubles every 22
minutes -- and that's not a bad thing. 

"This is what creates yogurt, and this is great, but it doesn't give you
representative numbers for lab testing if you do don't do the sampling
right away, or if the temperature changes. 

Yesterday, B.C.'s provincial health officer reiterated the danger of
drinking raw milk, saying anyone with the product should dump it out or
risk getting sick. 

"That can be anything from a relatively mild nausea, to diarrhea, to
severe bloody diarrhea, kidney shut-down and even death if you get a
high-dose of E. coli," Dr. Perry Kendall said. 

Not deterred 

Recent lab tests and danger warnings aren't enough to deter raw milk
enthusiasts, who say positive benefits of drinking raw milk - like
increased immune response - outweigh any potential hazards. 

"This hasn't changed anything," Home on the Range owner Alice Jongerden
said. 

"We're quite satisfied about how things are, the cleanliness, and the
way the system works from the milk to the jar." 

Barbara Schellenberg, the owner of the North Vancouver restaurant used
as a raw milk depot before the Dec. shut down, said high bacteria counts
in milk doesn't concern her, adding that she feeds the milk to her
one-year-old daughter. 

"To me it's something that's natural. It's a part of life and we think
humans are designed to eat sterile food and I don't think that's the
right approach," she said. 

"I hope it doesn't change things for people." 

Dr. Carsley isn't surprised health agency warnings are falling on deaf
ears. 

"Nothing we say they will believe and that's fine," he said. 

He hopes making the test results public will discourage people from
joining the quickly-growing raw milk movement. 

"We just don't want the general public to get on the bandwagon."