Dairy farmer says food safety bill a raw deal

[n2doc]

By Christine McConville / Pulse
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 -

Doug Stephan is boiling mad over a proposed federal clampdown on raw milk.

From Eastleigh Farms in Framingham, where Stephan’s customers buy 700 gallons of unpasteurized milk each week, he’s fighting the FDA Food Safety Modernization bill, which the U.S. Senate is considering.

The sweeping food safety proposal aims to put an end to all those salmonella-in-the-tomatoes and E. coli-in-the-cookie dough health scares that have dominated headlines in recent years.

It’s a very serious problem, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says food-borne illnesses cause 76 million illnesses a year, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.

The food-safety bill would force the food growers and dairy farmers to undergo regular FDA inspections. They’d have to begin filing routine safety reports, and start using government-approved equipment and feed.

And there’s a very good chance that the raw milk that Stephan sells would become illegal, because of the risks that unpasteurized milk can carry.

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http://news.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/20100928dairy_farmer_says_food_safety_bill_a_raw_deal/srvc=home&position=also

[supernova]

1. I don't get it

What is the "benefit" from raw milk?

Hormone and antibiotic free I can see. That's what organic is for.

But raw? Especially from unknown sources? Ewww.

Disclaimer: I'm lactose intolerant so I don't consume milk.

[trotsky]

2. Myths that pasteurization decreases the nutritional value, etc.

There's no basis to them, but you've got your disciples in every branch of woo who simply aren't going to give up on their pet issue just because of some pesky things called "facts."

My disclaimer: I consume milk (and cheese and yogurt) in Conehead-style mass quantities.

[supernova]

3. You and my fiancee

I swear he must have been a calf in a past life. This is true. We've been to ice cream parlors and he'll order ice cream AND 1/2 GALLON of milk to go with it. And he will down it all.

:rofl:

I love cheese and know that there are kinds of raw milk cheese. I don't have a problem with that because the enzymes and bacteria that create the cheese do their job.

[trotsky]

5. Yum, milk to wash down ice cream. The way it was meant to be.

For awhile in college I dated a girl whose dad was a dairy farmer. I spent Thanksgiving weekend on their farm one year and got to experience milk fresh from the cow (and run through their pasteurizer of course, they're no dummies). I swear, I would have been content to just sit and drink that for every meal.

And let me tell you, I don't think there is a harder-working farmer than a dairy farmer.

[charlie]

4. Raw is always healthier

Here, have a cashew.

[supernova]

6. Meaning?

What does volatile cashew oil have to do with raw milk?

:shrug:

[charlie]

7. Nothing, really

Just sarcasm. Grousing a bit about the times I've heard raw food is always better.