Not this crap again. Holy hypocrisy, Batman!

Government is IN the food inspection business because the PUBLIC EXPECTS TO BE PROTECTED AGAINST FOODBORNE ILLNESSES in COMMERCIAL VENTURES. Government operates the COURTS in which YOU will seek redress if YOU are injured by an improper food handling process executed on the food YOU eat. YOU are INCOMPETENT of determining whether a food handling procedure is valid or if bacterial or chemical agents are present in the food you buy. In some cases, YOU will be permanently injured or killed by faulty practices, AND NO INSURANCE OR LEGAL PENALTY WILL UNDO THAT.

Food manufacturing, distribution and handling guidelines, no matter if they have penalties attached, are distributed because startups often have no idea. This is why church dinners sicken people despite the best intentions of the elders.

Organics ARE PERMITTED. I have linked to the Happy Cow Creamery, in SC, as an example many times. I have ALSO noted several times that it is the PREVENTION aspect of food handling regulations, NOT INSPECTION, that provides you safety.

Yet here you are again. The house you live in was wired according to code. The car you drive was built under a myriad of regulations so you aren't impaled because of a speed bump. Laws insist that the medicines you take are both subject to purity standards and accompanied by a monograph describing as much as is practical about them. The airplane you take to France has passenger limits determined by international regulations, and its every move, from pushback to parked, is controlled by the FAA - and you have lamented the uncontrolled nature of private aircraft.

But raw milk is the issue. Wow.

I expect to see another story of a sleepy USDA inspector falsifying documents as justification for installing an "anything-goes" market.

"Oh, yeah, don't buy from Al's Meats, Grandma died from eating his pork."

Look around. Get consistent. Take a pill or something, because consmer protections are here to stay and you are benefited enormously by them right now.

Are people really so desperate for raw milk? Are people sitting at home with a tall glass doing a spit take with the pasteurized crap? "This tastes like shit! Get me some of that sweet, sweet, raw stuff, with all the delicious bacteria in it!!"

Radwaste, what you say is all well and good if I were to buy a pack of Cherrios off of the shelf, or some hamburger meat at the market. My wife was in charge of various departments at one time or another (some multiples at the same time) of a USDA inspected food plant. I am familiar with what it takes to make clean good food and the inspections and control associated with that. Having said that you miss the whole point of this. People buying raw milk have a choice. They are quite free to go to the store and buy pasteurized milk, frequently made with USDA approved Bovine Growth Hormone, but if they decide to take it upon themselves to take the risks involved with buying raw milk Uncle Sam has his big fat nose in his business. That is the objection, are we free or are we not, that is the question. If Monsanto and other agri-bigs (yes new word, just made it up) did not have such a hold on the federal government maybe we could trust the feds to work on our behalf. Unfortunately that situation does not exist. Virginia is making the right move. Let's hope that it passes.

Radwaste, what you say is all well and good if I were to buy a pack of Cherrios off of the shelf, or some hamburger meat at the market. My wife was in charge of various departments at one time or another (some multiples at the same time) of a USDA inspected food plant. I am familiar with what it takes to make clean good food and the inspections and control associated with that. Having said that you miss the whole point of this. People buying raw milk have a choice. They are quite free to go to the store and buy pasteurized milk, frequently made with USDA approved Bovine Growth Hormone, but if they decide to take it upon themselves to take the risks involved with buying raw milk Uncle Sam has his big fat nose in his business. That is the objection, are we free or are we not, that is the question. If Monsanto and other agri-bigs (yes new word, just made it up) did not have such a hold on the federal government maybe we could trust the feds to work on our behalf. Unfortunately that situation does not exist. Virginia is making the right move. Let's hope that it passes.

I'm in Virginia and was actually at a family farm with a scout group. They had one dairy cow and fed the leftover milk to the pigs because they couldn't sell it. They drank it raw themselves though, and I would have no compunction about buying some from them (they actually apologized that they couldn't give us any due to regulations).

I have started hearing mumblings that the pasteurization process can alter some of the milk proteins and change how our bodies interact with the milk. I haven't searched the literature. Amy, have you heard anything along these lines?

I also know that some people feel raw milk, like local raw honey, can help with seasonal allergies.

Don't our cops and civil service workers have better things to do than interfere with VOLUNTARY transactions between INDIVIDUAL citizens ??

Now, mind you, I buy my beef and pork on the hoof, from a farmer I've known for years. I pay a flat rate per pound, a fee for slaughter and butchering, and 5 days later, I fill the back of the van with enough frozen beef and pork in sealed vaccuum packs to fill a medium chest freezer.

I chose the cut, the thickness of the steaks, even the fat mixture of the ground beef and pork.

And I have several friends who run farms, I buy honey and eggs from them.

What, pray tell, am I doing so wrong here that cops should get involved ??

All outbreaks of salmonella from contaminated milk in recent decades — and there have been many — have occurred in pasteurized milk. This includes a 1985 outbreak in Illinois that struck 14,316 people causing at least one death.

Raw milk contains lactic-acid-producing bacteria that protect against pathogens. Pasteurization destroys these helpful organisms, leaving the
finished product devoid of any protective mechanism should undesirable bacteria inadvertently contaminate the supply. Raw milk in time turns pleasantly sour while pasteurized milk, lacking beneficial bacteria, will putrefy.

But that’s not all that pasteurization does to milk. Heat alters milk’s amino acids lysine and tyrosine, making the whole complex of proteins
less available; it promotes rancidity of unsaturated fatty acids and
destruction of vitamins.

Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50%; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80%; the Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor is totally destroyed.

Pasteurization alters milk’s mineral components such as calcium,
chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur as well as many trace minerals, making them less available

Last but not least, pasteurization destroys all the enzymes in milk— in fact, the test for successful pasteurization is absence of enzymes.
These enzymes help the body assimilate all bodybuilding factors,
including calcium. That is why those who drink pasteurized milk may
suffer, nevertheless, from osteoporosis.

"Government, by the way, promoted the non-science-based wildly unhealthy high-carb, low-fat diet that made Americans obese."

Ah, yes. "Government". Completely illogical. Isn't this supposed to be a blog of logic and reason?

It's not on this issue.

To paraphrase Orwell, you recline in comfort because rough men stand ready to keep you from poisoning yourself.

Any number of deaths is completely OK so long as you get to buy the food and drugs you want. Right?

Well, chances are, laws about weed don't bother you - this law shouldn't bother you, either. Go right ahead and ingest whatever you want - because the law you're complaining about affects commercial sales, not private transactions.

We can all hear next year about how Kaiser won't pay for your liver flukes.

By the way, Joe:
"All outbreaks of salmonella from contaminated milk in recent decades — and there have been many — have occurred in pasteurized milk."
This illustrates your lack of logical discipline. "Outbreaks", by definition, happen to widely-distributed entities. The logical and rational statement regarding this would actually be, "Pasteurization and other existing controls have failed to protect the public from several salmonella outbreaks" - and then the reason for the failures could be discussed.

Why? Because pasteurization doesn't cause salmonella.

There is a reason grocery store chains can put milk on the shelf with generally accurate expiration dates. Can you guess what that is?

Again, the blog of science and reason fails to present them consistently!

PUBLIC EXPECTS TO BE PROTECTED AGAINST FOODBORNE ILLNESSES in COMMERCIAL VENTURES

Yes, yes, Radwaste. I see a similar warning in restaurants about "raw or undercooked food may lead to sickness or death" as they attempt to get me to order my steak at medium or higher, or my oysters[1] to be non-raw.

Methinks the people buying raw milk understand the risks they take. Perhaps the dairyman can post a similar notice and you'll be satisfied?

On the other hand, if I were an actual dairyman, there would be no way in hell I'm selling anyone raw milk other than a commercial outfit. The first person who gets seriously ill (or worse) will end up suing the batsnot out of me. Not. Worth. It.

[1] I would not voluntarily eat oysters, raw or otherwise. I take my steaks at half-past moo.

Any number of deaths is completely OK so long as you get to buy the food and drugs you want. Right?

As opposed to

Any number of deaths is completely OK so long as [others dont] get to buy the food and drugs you [dont] want. Right?

Methinks the people buying raw milk understand the risks they take.

Really?

I think Amy understands the risks she takes. Not sure about the population at large.

(BTW, cheese made with unpasteurized milk is for sale in various food/drink markets in Texas. Not sure what the regulations are surrounding this, but it's common enough and open enough that there's no way the practice is banned by law. Amy, if you come to Texas to promote your book, head over to the nearest Central Market or Spec's and ask around.)

Are people really so desperate for raw milk?

Who gives a fuck? Better question, why the hell do they send ARMED S.W.A.T. teams with live weapons into farmers markets and other businesses to prevent it?

"I do understand the risks."

Nonsense. Show me how you know the next raw product you consume doesn't have paraquat or RoundUp in it.

"As opposed to

Any number of deaths is completely OK so long as [others dont] get to buy the food and drugs you [dont] want. Right?"

Jesus, you're inventing new ways to be wrong. Please use a search engine and try to understand logical fallacies before you waste more time like this.

"Believing that it is because the government "inspects" it is the real logical fallacy here."

Wow, you have some serious blinders on about this. And I have written again and again about this!

Government inspections are only part of the story. Standards, establishing safe practices, produces the handling methods which provide your consumer protections.

Standards work to produce the safe environment you now enjoy. That's something you can actually see in place today. It is NOT a logical deduction or fantasy!

Proper inspections only determine if the standards are being followed. You are arguing that because some inspections are ineffective, they are worthless. That is blatantly false, and this would be easily apparent if you applied the concept to anything else. How about this one: "Some police are ineffective, so there shouldn't be any police."

Carry this further: you should not have to vaccinate your kids (you can't tell if the people around you have communicable viruses). The counter help at McDonald's should not have to wash their hands (you won't know, and you can't tell if their hands are actually clean). Nobody should tell you if their hot sauce has MSG in it (you can't tell unless they disclose that). UL shouldn't check the construction of your microwave - if it shocks you, you'll survive to turn it back in for another one (also without an inspection sticker).

Here's one you'll appreciate: you should just step into the Rapiscan 1000, because it obviously isn't harmful.
What? All of a sudden you clamor for testing? Why?

Ever eat dinner at a friend's house without the government inspectors coming through first?

Posted by: Amy Alkon at January 1, 2015 10:42 PM

Yes, and I occasionally eat street food in Asia. (Gasp)

We are all bags of bacteria. The human body is pretty adept at using the good bacteria to choke out the bad.

You can live your life in a bubble, or train your immune system to be healthy and strong,

This is one of those areas, where a good offense, is better than a great defense.

Local and state authorities crack down on the selling of raw milk, for the same reason they crack down on Uber and Lyft.

They are in bed with, and funded by the tax dollars and fees from the competition.

Nonsense. Show me how you know the next raw product you consume doesn't have paraquat or RoundUp in it.

Show me how you prove that burger form the inspected Jack in the Box wont kill you with e-coli

Nonsense. Show me how you know the next raw product you consume doesn't have paraquat or RoundUp in it.

Show me how you prove that burger form the inspected Jack in the Box wont kill you with e-coli

Posted by: lujlp at January 2, 2015 1:46 PM

Not to mention food products imported from China, and other countries.

A tiny percentage of those imports are tested, and they have found some really bad stuff in some of the processed foods, and the fresh ones.

Also, you can drink Roundup with fewer ill effects, than a microscopic amount of botulism.

Well, then -- I suppose there isn't any reason for OSHA, either.

After all, those workers are professionals, fully capable of recognizing when their workplace is unsafe!

Hypocrite.

"We never buy any food that's from China for us or for my dog. Sure not about to let the government, which lets these foods in, account for her safety."

I missed this awesome, and I mean truly awesome gem!

The only way you can know if food is from China is because of a Federal regulation!