Can any one explain this....Family Farm Ordered to Destroy 50,000 Pounds of Cheese

[AmericanMan1958]

ALL of their cheese without actual tests being performed on the cheese stock. This is nearly 50,000 pounds of cheese, or approximately $250,000.


http://hartkeisonline.com/2010/10/11/family-farm-ordered-to-destroy-50000-pounds-of-cheese/

[sadbear]

1. Did you read the article?

[AmericanMan1958]

2. yes.....

What is the FDA concerned over,,bacteria,,, sorry I don't mean to be dense...
This is not my field of expertise.

[msanthrope]

42. Listeria--which is a guaranteed miscarriage, and Staph---which is also nasty.

http://www.nowpublic.com/health/morningland-dairy-stops-cheese-production-after-listeria-fears-2656092.html

That's why they are shut down...

[Sweet Charming Dem]

4. I read it, and it's ridiculous

[handmade34]

3. could explain

it will take awhile and I'm off to bed... I used to milk cows and this fight is not a new one; it is not a simple matter.

...lots of double standards and inconsistancies but in some ways, reason for concern. Morningland Dairy sounds like an innocent victim.

Thanks for the post, it is an interesting story.

[AmericanMan1958]

5. Understand.... I need sleep also

I work on a dairy farm years ago,, we drink fresh milk...

[ThomCat]

11. Before I became a vegan,

as a kid I spent a lot of time on a friend's farm on weekends. We had our own animals there, and I got to spend weekends raising them, milking them, feeding them.

If someone can't or won't become a vegetarian or vegan, at least support local farms, organic food, raw food, and eating as healthy as you can.

The idea of supporting bureaucratic rules just for the sake of rules without ever testing those rules goes against everything science stands for. It goes against everything food safety is supposed to be about. Meanwhile they'll allow hormones and antibiotics in foods, and junk food as if it was food, faked tests because they don't want corporations to get upset, and that's what they consider to be in the best interest of safe food?

What a strange position to be in, as a vegan, I support a cheese farmer. :P

[Sweet Charming Dem]

15. Yep, and I'm sure the cows are treated way better there than on the corporate dairy farms

[Confusious]

36. science really has nothing to do with "bureaucratic rules"

science just says that the way pathogens get passed is through raw milk, and pasturization is the best way to kill them.

Others make up rules such as no selling of raw milk, which were written because so many people died from pathogens passed through milk.

Usually, when a rule is a law, it's called "breaking the law" and saying that's "testing" is bullshit.

it's like saying not robbing a bank is a "rule" and they were just "testing" the rules.

there is no research that says that there is any benefit to raw milk over pasteurized milk, besides the "I think it is" argument.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=raw-milk-debate

Bacterial outbreaks are traced back to nonpasteurized milk, yet proponents claim it is healthier and tastes better

[ThomCat]

56. So all the science of bacterial testing has nothing to contribute?

:wtf:

Just make a blanket statement that all raw milk has to be banned because some milk has been allowed to spoil somewhere?

Using that logic, the only food that would be allowed to be sold anywhere would be artificial stuff pumped with preservatives.

As for your comment about taste, that is entirely subjective. If many people like the taste of raw milk better, that's their judgment and their right.

Back when I was able to drink milk, before I developed an allergy to dairy, I drank both raw and commercial milk, and I could absolutely taste the difference. I was one of those people who vastly preferred the taste of raw milk.

If other people prefer commercial, homogenized milk, that is probably because that is the taste they grew up with, and that is what they are familiar with. People tend to prefer what they are most familiar with, regardless of what it is. That has nothing to do with anything else.

[pa28]

6. What a waste.

I wonder if any major corporate interests are also suffering the guillotine here on similar breaches of regulation. The article cites enforcement rules but I'm wondering what law this action stems from.

[Sweet Charming Dem]

7. Probably some law regarding raw milk cheese

I'm a bit leery of drinking raw milk, but I eat raw milk cheese all the time.

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. Their cheese was contaminated.

Destruction is the only safe way to contain poisoned cheese. And being clean is the only way to prevent future contamination, which is something they were obviously lax about in the past.

[laughingliberal]

9. "I wonder if any major corporate interests are also suffering the guillotine.. on similar breaches"

Everyone's a comic.

:eyes:

[pa28]

14. Well they can always get into the oil spilling business.

I'm sure we'll find out in a couple of years that it's profitable.

:rimshot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34

[aquart]

25. I wonder if any large corporate interest paid to make this happen.

[sadbear]

8. Isn't raw cheese illegal in this country?

What did the raw cheese farmers expect to happen when they tried to sell an illegal substance? (I'm sympathetic in that I think the law is probably outdated, but for the time being, it's still the law.)

[Sweet Charming Dem]

10. Not everywhere

I buy raw cheese at the health food store (in NJ). It comes from PA.

[laughingliberal]

12. No

Unpasteurized cheeses are actually legal, as long as they have been aged at least 60 days in an environment held at 35 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius). During the aging process, the cheese becomes more acidic, killing most potential sources of bacterial infection.


http://www.wisegeek.com/is-raw-milk-cheese-really-illegal-in-the-united-states.htm

[AmericanMan1958]

18. Thanks..

The link really helped...
Thanks again

[laughingliberal]

20. Quite welcome. nt

[izzybeans]

13. The article goes back to a John Stossel video

which makes it really suspect. The dude is a professional shill for protofascists.

[AmericanMan1958]

21. I will research..

John Stossel..
Thanks

[Hannah Bell]

27. um, if you need to "research" stossel, you must have been living in anarctica for the last 20 years.

[AmericanMan1958]

48. I said at the start of this post.....

This is not my area.....
I said thank you for your help...
If this is your way of accepting a word of Thanks..
Look like you have been in a cave for the last 50 years.
This is just exactly what I dislike about some individuals on D.U
Your attitude helps me understand why some people hate us.
But I will knee to your superior knowledge and Thank you for sharing your intelligence on a scurve like me..

[Hannah Bell]

49. john stossel isn't a cheesemaker, he's a right-wing tv personality. i stand by what i said.

[AmericanMan1958]

52. I would expect nothing less

[Generic Other]

16. These people made no one sick?

But slaughterhouses feed us rotten downer cows, salmonella tainted eggs, and dirty chicken bones extruded into chicken mc nuggets and the FDA says nothing. Business as usual.

Blech.

[Cronus Protagonist]

17. Tests showed contamination with Staph and Listeria

Here's the actual destroy order.

http://nicfa.com/destroy-1.pdf

14 of 14 samples tested positive for Staph
6 of 14 samples tested positive for Listeria

Both are very dangerous for the elderly, the infirm and the fetus. They were ordered to destroy this dangerous contaminated product and clean up their act.

Before anyone complains about the destruction of the contaminated cheese, ask yourself this: If they didn't destroy their contaminated cheese, would YOU feed it to your pregnant daughter or your elderly grandparents?

I have no sympathy for them and their dirty ways.

[emilyg]

24. Thanks.

[FedUpWithIt All]

32. And the farm claims that those tests were done four months after the cheese was shipped and...

55 days after it had been seized in the rawsome raid.

Also according to them, the farm itself was extensively tested and found to be completely clean of contaminants.

Two sides to most stories.

http://uncheeseparty.wordpress.com/about/

http://www.newswithviews.com/Hannes/doreen107.htm

Requests to test the cheese that was actually ordered destroyed were repeatedly refused.

[lightningandsnow]

57. I had a staph skin infection a couple of years ago....

It was nasty! And it can get bad very quickly.

And I've heard Listeria is also terrible. There was a Listeria outbreak here a while ago, and several people died from it.

[mudplanet]

22. On top of everything else TB can be passed in raw milk.

Although, to my knowledge, the process of spoiling kills most dangerous bacteria in milk.

Cheese and yogurt made from raw milk should be totally safe. The bacteria that creates the product kills dangerous bacteria. Bacteria vs Bacteria.

If you really want to drink raw milk - get a cow.

[whoneedstickets]

23. There is a simple solution to their problem, it has saved many lives..

..Pasteurization. Heat milk, cool, make cheese.

The raw foods movement, like the anti-vaccine folks, are the lunatic anti-science fringe of the left. They occupy the same place on our side of the ideological spectrum as the anti-evolution and now anti-climate change lunatics on the right. Deny science and substitute unsubstantiated beliefs held with religious conviction for empirical evidence.

[Hannah Bell]

30. The process of making most hard cheeses itself kills dangerous bacteria.

And even pasteurized milk can be contaminated post-pasteurization.

Raw milk aged cheese is sold legally in most of europe, & in the US.

It's mainly soft cheeses where there's a problem.

[arikara]

47. I prefer to

allow brainwashed koolaid drinkers to believe whatever you like. I don't understand all the shrill fury when others don't accept what passes for science these days... not that I really care so PLEASE don't bother to explain.

[TreasonousBastard]

26. Good Grief! there is a link to the destroy order that clearly says...

they found listeria and staph in the cheese. And cheese is rarely cooked like the burgers from all that recalled meat would be.

So what's this nonsense about nothing wrong with it? And more nonsense about Big Agra never being called on poison food? Maybe they're not called enough, but even poor widdle family farms get nailed when there are pathogens in the food from unclean practices.

Even poor widdle family farms claiming to have healthier food.

[Hannah Bell]

29. The dairy has another story:

1) To date, there has been no legitimate test performed on Morningland Dairy cheese, although Morningland Dairy owners have repeatedly requested that proper tests be done. California authorities did not sign the test they allegedly performed until 55 days after product was seized at gunpoint from Rawesome Foods. No sample of said product was shared with Morningland Dairy as is required by California and Missouri statutes; therefore, there is no confirmation of the findings reported by California Food and Department of Agriculture.

2) Morningland Dairy plant manager, Jedadiah York, and Plant Owner/Gen.Manager, Denise Dixon, apprised Don Falls of the Missouri State Milk Board that more than two samples of Morningland Dairy cheese had apparently been tested in California, and that those results should be considered in the situation of alleged contamination of Morningland Dairy cheese. Mr. Falls’ reply was that he was not told about it, and we repeatedly asked him to look into that situation. Mr. Falls later stated he could not get that information from California, and that it was up to Morningland Dairy to request it. Instead of getting the requested information, he repeatedly stated that we just needed to “concentrate on doing the recall”.

3) Despite being aware that several types of Morningland Dairy cheese had been tested and evidently tested clear by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Falls insisted that all of our cheese must be recalled, not just the two batches that were identified from the alleged contamination found in the California test.

4) No Missouri State Milk Board representative obtained samples from Morningland Dairy. Instead, at the request of Morningland Dairy owners, samples were taken by a Morningland Dairy employee, and submitted to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc., of St. Louis, MO, (this lab was suggested by Don Falls of the Missouri State Milk Board) on August 27, 2010 for testing.

5) Contrary to section 196.565 of the Revised Missouri Statutes, the only witness to the sampling from Morningland Dairy was the employee who did the sampling. When Morningland Dairy owners, Joseph & Denise Dixon, learned how the samples were taken, they knew that the tests would be inaccurate and, consequently, erroneous. Despite repeatedly informing Don Falls and also Audra Ashemore, of the FDA, of the faulty sampling methods, both of these individuals used the results of this inept test in their reports.

6) Mr. Falls failed to see to it that samples bore the signature of the person taking the samples, which is required by section RSMo.196.565. Although Mr. Falls states that an employee of Morningland Dairy delivered said samples to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc., the samples were in fact given to a family member of Joseph & Denise Dixon. This family member, in turn, met another family member in Edgar Springs, MO, who then took said samples to said lab. Neither of these family members is an employee of Morningland Dairy. These facts are reported to illustrate the falseness of Mr. Wiseman’s statement that “State Milk Board staff documented chain of custody and maintained the integrity of samples by ensuring the storage containers where the cheese products were kept were properly sealed, labeled and secured.”


7) Three FDA representatives took 100 swab/sponge tests of the cheese plant and the milk barn at Morningland Dairy during the first week of September. The following week, Audra Ashemore of the FDA, called Plant Manager York, to say that the swab test results were in, and that the tests came back clear. When Mrs. Dixon requested a copy of these test results, Ms. Ashemore stated that Morningland Dairy would receive a copy, and that the FDA did not have a copy. To date, Morningland Dairy has not received a copy of said results, and no mention has since been made of the fact that both the cheese plant and the milk barn tested clear.

http://morninglanddairy.webs.com/recallinformation.htm

[laughingliberal]

31. Thanks. nt

[whoneedstickets]

46. Yeah, all that global warming data is tainted too, so is the fossil record...

..denying the validity of the data is a good first step.

[Hannah Bell]

50. i made no claim about who was wrong or right. i put up the dairy's response.

[TreasonousBastard]

58. Maybe they do, but who are we to believe? The salient fact is that...

the cheese was found to be tainted, and questions about chain of custody and such are only important if they can show that the tests are invalid.

Curiously, a large number of posts around here talk of the "corporations" that are destroying us, but here one has been found to actually sell poison and is being defended. That it's a smaller one than Kraft should make a difference?

[Hannah Bell]

28. Tests were performed on samples sold in California & listeria was found. Thus the recall.

This "small family farm" sells cheese in 48 states. So it's not *that* small.

The recall is a result of regulatory sampling in the State of California. This regulatory sampling of Morningland Dairy cheese, which was taken from the Rawesome store in Venice, California, revealed the Morningland Dairy Hot Pepper Colby and Garlic Colby Cheeses contained the bacteria. Morningland Dairy has suspended the production and distribution of all cheese, as FDA, the Missouri Milk Board, and Morningland Dairy continue their investigation as to the root cause of the problem...
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm224494.htm


Morningland responds:


Objection to Order to Destroy Dairy Product at Morningland Dairy

Morningland of the Ozarks, LLC, dba Morningland Dairy, is in receipt of recommendations by the Missouri Milk Board and representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, ultimately ordering the destruction of ALL cheese produced by Morningland Dairy from January 1st, 2010, through August 26th, 2010. Morningland Dairy LLC hereby gives notice to the Missouri Milk Board and the Missouri Department of Agriculture and their agents, that we object to this order and request due process be followed before any further destruction of our property, wealth, and ability to provide ourselves and our customers, with a desired and healthful product is incurred.

Morningland Dairy is, and has been, committed to providing a growing clientele with raw milk cheeses for more than 30 years. In thirty years, there have been no reports of illness associated with consumption of our cheese. We have always done all required testing of our product.

Because of the untenable nature of the order of destruction, we cannot comply and we formally lodge our objection to this order and request that the order issued by Gene Wiseman, Executive Secretary of the Missouri Milk Board, be immediately rescinded. Instead, Morningland Dairy requests that all parties involved consider the scientifically sound and common sense remedy to the allegations of “contamination” of our product be applied. This remedy can be found at the end of this document.

Rebuttal of Missouri Milk Board Statements

Many of the “facts” as stated by the Missouri Milk Board et al in the order to destroy and the attachments thereto are both incorrect and unscientific. A brief rebuttal to the major inconsistencies and substantive errors follow:

1) To date, there has been no legitimate test performed on Morningland Dairy cheese, although Morningland Dairy owners have repeatedly requested that proper tests be done. California authorities did not sign the test they allegedly performed until 55 days after product was seized at gunpoint from Rawesome Foods. No sample of said product was shared with Morningland Dairy as is required by California and Missouri statutes; therefore, there is no confirmation of the findings reported by California Food and Department of Agriculture.

2) Morningland Dairy plant manager, Jedadiah York, and Plant Owner/Gen.Manager, Denise Dixon, apprised Don Falls of the Missouri State Milk Board that more than two samples of Morningland Dairy cheese had apparently been tested in California, and that those results should be considered in the situation of alleged contamination of Morningland Dairy cheese. Mr. Falls’ reply was that he was not told about it, and we repeatedly asked him to look into that situation. Mr. Falls later stated he could not get that information from California, and that it was up to Morningland Dairy to request it. Instead of getting the requested information, he repeatedly stated that we just needed to “concentrate on doing the recall”.

3) Despite being aware that several types of Morningland Dairy cheese had been tested and evidently tested clear by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Falls insisted that all of our cheese must be recalled, not just the two batches that were identified from the alleged contamination found in the California test.

4) No Missouri State Milk Board representative obtained samples from Morningland Dairy. Instead, at the request of Morningland Dairy owners, samples were taken by a Morningland Dairy employee, and submitted to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc., of St. Louis, MO, (this lab was suggested by Don Falls of the Missouri State Milk Board) on August 27, 2010 for testing.

5) Contrary to section 196.565 of the Revised Missouri Statutes, the only witness to the sampling from Morningland Dairy was the employee who did the sampling. When Morningland Dairy owners, Joseph & Denise Dixon, learned how the samples were taken, they knew that the tests would be inaccurate and, consequently, erroneous. Despite repeatedly informing Don Falls and also Audra Ashemore, of the FDA, of the faulty sampling methods, both of these individuals used the results of this inept test in their reports.

6) Mr. Falls failed to see to it that samples bore the signature of the person taking the samples, which is required by section RSMo.196.565. Although Mr. Falls states that an employee of Morningland Dairy delivered said samples to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc., the samples were in fact given to a family member of Joseph & Denise Dixon. This family member, in turn, met another family member in Edgar Springs, MO, who then took said samples to said lab. Neither of these family members is an employee of Morningland Dairy. These facts are reported to illustrate the falseness of Mr. Wiseman’s statement that “State Milk Board staff documented chain of custody and maintained the integrity of samples by ensuring the storage containers where the cheese products were kept were properly sealed, labeled and secured.”


7) Three FDA representatives took 100 swab/sponge tests of the cheese plant and the milk barn at Morningland Dairy during the first week of September. The following week, Audra Ashemore of the FDA, called Plant Manager York, to say that the swab test results were in, and that the tests came back clear. When Mrs. Dixon requested a copy of these test results, Ms. Ashemore stated that Morningland Dairy would receive a copy, and that the FDA did not have a copy. To date, Morningland Dairy has not received a copy of said results, and no mention has since been made of the fact that both the cheese plant and the milk barn tested clear.


In conclusion, due to the lack of scientific evidence, lack of transparent protocol and complete lack of any illness associated with our cheese, and the absurdity of the assertion that ALL, nearly all, or even some of Morningland Dairy cheese is actually dangerous, we –again- offer to test each batch of cheese in our cooler prior to shipping the product to our customers.

Because of the fact that it is far from a light matter to put families out of work and out of business when no harm has occurred to anyone in a thirty-year history, we are more than reluctant to destroy nearly 50,000 pounds of food based on erroneous tests. We have always appreciated the input and advise of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Milk Board and have no issues with following logical and scientifically accurate suggestions and recommendations. We do, however, have no desire to harm our customers or ourselves by following unjust, unscientific, faulty processes that destroy the health and livelihoods of those involved with our company.

At this point, October 6th, 2010, we have been required to recall 6 months of work, have been completely shut down and forced to dump milk for nearly 5 weeks, are being told we must destroy at least 8 months of work. Further, we have no assurance that we will be allowed to continue to produce our product without subjection to overzealous enforcement actions on the part of the FDA or the Missouri Milk Board.

We seek justice, reason, logic and decency, and we desire to live peaceably and to profit from our labor. Due process is inherent in our system, and we request that it be followed.




Proposed Remedy from Morningland of the Ozarks, LLC to the Missouri Milk Board and Representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture

1) Morningland Dairy will diligently strive to put into action those reasonable procedural recommendations rendered in the Memorandums from the MO State Milk Board and Dr. Harold Treese, as finances and circumstances allow.



2) Morningland Dairy will dilligently perform a microbial test, using proper sampling procedures and using a state approved lab of our choice, on each batch of cheese in order to identify any contamination, and will offer for sale only cheese batches that are found to be free of contamination. Any cheese batch that tests positive for contamination willl not be offered for sale.

[FedUpWithIt All]

33. The contaminated cheese from CA was also not tested until four months after it had been shipped

to CA and an additional 55 days after it's seizure during the Rawsome raid.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. Pastuerization. It's almost as bad as fluoridation.

When it comes to corrupting our precious bodily fluids.

[txlibdem]

35. Can someone find the law on unpasteurized cheese

There is a definite effort by the fed to crack down on these farms. There usually isn't any testing of the milk/cheese and no proof that they are harmful in any way. It's a policy issue or a power thing, depending on your view of the issue.

[MineralMan]

37. One word: Pasteurization.

This is the 21st century. We've known about that process for a very, very long time. It kills harmful bacteria in milk. There is no benefit from eating raw cheese, but there is risk in it. It is that simple. Pasteurize milk.

[dionysus]

38. you corporatist, you! throwing in your lot with those gummint scientists and their "pasteuration"

;)

[MineralMan]

39. Hmm...so logical health measures are corporatist, by nature.

I did not know that. Well, I guess I'd better revisit my thinking on this. In fact, I say this, after due reflection: Let's go back to the freedoms of the 19th century! Stop all regulations on dairy farmers! End TB Testing! Let the farmers sell whatever they want! If someone gets sick, they can just sue! Yeah...Libertarianism...that's the ticket.

[dionysus]

40. or... we could simply soak the raw cheese in TSP...

:D

:hi:

[MineralMan]

41. I was thinking more of formadehyde. That kills those pesky

listeria and staph bacilli real good. And who knows, people might develop a taste for it, too.

[dionysus]

54. who cares if there's listerine in the cheese? it's good liberal american cheese, just not pastrated

is all....

:silly:

[Hannah Bell]

53. Aging cheese does the same thing. If listeria & staph are found in hard cheese, it's

typically due to production-level contamination or short-cuts in the process, not want of pasteurization.

Abstract

A commercial cheese (acid curd) made from pasteurized milk caused a large listeriosis outbreak in Germany from October 2006 through February 2007. The Listeria monocytogenes outbreak strain was identified in humans and in cheese samples from a patient's home and from the production plant.

During the outbreak period, 189 patients were affected, which was 97% above the mean case number for the respective time period of the years 2002 to 2005. Of patients with available detailed information on cheese consumption (n=47), 70% reported to have consumed the incriminated cheese product.

Recent European food safety alerts due to Listeria-contaminated cheeses more often concerned products made from pasteurized or heat-treated milk than from raw milk. The findings should be considered in prevention guidelines addressing vulnerable populations.

http://bites.ksu.edu/news/143917/10/09/02/large-listeriosis-outbreak-linked-cheese-made-pasteurized-milk-germany-2006%E2%80%93200


USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provide the following advice for pregnant women:

Listeria is a type of bacteria found in soil, water, and sometimes on plants. Though Listeria is all around our environment, most Listeria infections in people are from eating contaminated foods.

•Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, or deli meats unless they are reheated until steaming hot.

•Avoid getting fluid from hot dog packages on other foods, utensils, and food preparation surfaces, and wash hands after handling hot dogs, luncheon meats, and deli meats.

•Do not eat soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, and Mexican-style cheeses such as "queso blanco fresco."

-It is safe to eat hard cheeses, semi-soft cheeses such as mozzarella, pasteurized processed cheese slices and spreads, cream cheese, and cottage cheese.

•Do not eat refrigerated pâté or meat spreads.
-It is safe to eat canned or shelf-stable pâté and meat spreads.

•Do not eat refrigerated smoked seafood unless it is an ingredient in a cooked dish such as a casserole. Examples of refrigerated smoked seafood include salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, and mackerel which are most often labeled as "nova-style," "lox," "kippered," "smoked," or "jerky." This fish is found in the refrigerated section or sold at deli counters of grocery stores and delicatessens.
-It is safe to eat canned fish such as salmon and tuna or shelf-stable smoked seafood.

•Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk or eat foods that contain unpasteurized milk.

•Use all refrigerated perishable items that are precooked or ready-to-eat as soon as possible.

•Clean your refrigerator regularly.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pregnancy_gateway/infections-Listeria.html


Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated with Pasteurized Milk from a Local Dairy --- Massachusetts, 2007

On November 27, 2007, a local health officer in central Massachusetts contacted the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to report listeriosis in a man aged 87 years. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) performed on the patient's Listeria monocytogenes isolate produced a pattern indistinguishable from that of isolates from three other cases identified in residents of central Massachusetts in June, October, and early November 2007. MDPH, in collaboration with local public health officials, conducted an investigation, which implicated pasteurized, flavored and nonflavored, fluid milk produced by a local dairy (dairy A) as the source of the outbreak. This report summarizes the results of that investigation. In all, five cases were identified, and three deaths occurred. This outbreak illustrates the potential for contamination of fluid milk products after pasteurization and the difficulty in detecting outbreaks of L. monocytogenes infections.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5740a1.htm

[AngryAmish]

43. I'll explain it:

This is a cow:



If you look closely at the lower lefthand side of the cow you will notice a pouch-like organ with several extensions which are called teats. This organ produces milk, which can be used to feed a cow's young. Other uses are to be drank by humans or used to make things like cheese.

This picture does not show it, but in the rear of a cow is an anus. Out of the anus comes a substence known colloquially as "poo". This is the solid waste from the cow eating and digesting their food.

When a cow produces milk for drinking by humans or to make cheese it is done through a procedure known as "milking". <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milking>

Nowadays almost all milking is done with a machine. The machine is placed upon the teats and through vacuum action brings the milk into a central storage tank.

Why is all this important? Several reasons. In the poo are all sorts of nasty microscopic creatures. They can make humans ill or make them die. So we try to keep the poo out of the milk. It is not always possible. Sometimes there is poo on the teats. Sometimes the milking machine falls off the cow into a pile of the poo and poo is vacuumed into central storage unit. (Cows are known to poo even while standing there getting milked. Cows are dumb and do not care where or when they poo).

So if this bad stuff gets into milk no matter how careful you are, what can be done? There is a process known as Pasteurization. It was invented by Louis Pasteur, who was French. This kills the bad things in the milk. Some people object to this process because they do not understand public safety snd have quasi-religious views to the contrary. These people who are having their cheese destroyed are such people.

[dionysus]

44. .

:spray:

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[msanthrope]

45. I laughed so hard at this post I had to go pee.....These people are morans....

I miss the DUZY awards...

[Codeine]

55. That's easily my favorite DU post this month.

:yourock:

[Horse with no Name]

51. I grew up on a dairy farm

Keeping your stuff clean is not something that is foreign to dairy farmers.
Every tank of milk has samples pulled out of it and if it shows contamination--then the ENTIRE truck that it is pumped into is dumped--thousands and thousands of gallons of dumped milk and the offending dairy farm is charged for the dump.
It is the GREAT motivator to not milk sick cows, keep your tanks and your parlor clean.
I have no pity here.
This is the way it is supposed to work to protect consumers.