Few of us were born when the power of milk pasteurization launched its first major attack on nature’s perfect food. In 1945, a magazine called Crown published an article, “Raw Milk Will Kill You,” blaming raw milk for causing an outbreak of brucellosis in an American crossroads town that killed one-third of the residents. die. A year later, Reader’s Digest picked up the story and published it.
There is only one problem with this “report”. There was no town called Crossroads, and there were no outbreaks of brucellosis. The entire story is a fabrication—or a lie. The lies about raw milk have continued ever since.
Unfortunately, the fictional crossroads story paved the way for the 1948 Michigan law banning the sale of raw milk.
This is another example of a lie about raw milk (which I mentioned in a previous post,1 But worth repeating). In 2007, John F. Sheehan, BSc (Dy), JD, of the Division of Dairy and Egg Safety at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (USFDA/CFSAN), prepared a Powerpoint denigrating raw milk; it was produced by Cindy Leonard, MS Submitted to the 2005 National Interstate Milk Transportation Conference (NCIMS).2
As the table below shows, all 15 reports Sheehan cites linking foodborne illness outbreaks to raw milk are seriously flawed. For example, in these fifteen studies, the study authors provided no evidence that anyone consumed raw dairy products, and in one of them, the outbreak didn’t even exist. Not a single study has shown that pasteurization can prevent outbreaks.
There are no valid positive milk samples |
12/15 (80%) |
No valid statistical correlation with raw milk |
10/15 (67%) |
FDA misrepresented findings |
7/15 (47%) |
Alternative explanations discovered but not pursued |
5/15 (33%) |
There is no evidence that anyone consumes raw dairy products |
2/15 (13%) |
The outbreak doesn’t even exist |
1/15 (7%) |
Pasteurization not shown to prevent outbreaks |
15/15 (100%) |
Fast forward to now, the debate over bird flu in dairy cows – more lies, very clever lies, but lies nonetheless.
In a press release dated March 25, 2024,3 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with state veterinarians and public health officials, announced an investigation into a “sickness in older dairy cows” in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico that causes lactation. decreased appetite, loss of appetite, and other symptoms.
The agencies claimed that unpasteurized milk samples from sick cows in Kansas and Texas tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Officials have attributed the outbreak to contact with “wild migratory birds” and possibly cattle-to-cattle transmission. The press release specifically warned against consuming raw milk, a warning repeated in numerous publications and online posts.
According to the press release, the national laboratory has confirmed the presence of HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) through testing but did not disclose the type of test used to detect the so-called viral disease.
Lie 1: Researchers found HPAI virus in the milk of sick cows
Officials have not found any virus in the milk or any other secretions from sick cows. The CDC has not responded to repeated requests for evidence that isolated highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses have been found in any body fluids of any sick chickens or other animals.4 Canada also has no health and agricultural agencies;5 Japan,6 U.K.7 and europe8 Provide evidence of any isolated avian influenza viruses.
As for all the studies you can find in a PubMed search claiming to “isolate” viruses, not a single study has shown actual isolation of viruses, any viruses, from fluids (sputum, blood, urine, lung fluid, etc.). class or human being.9
In fact, “viruses” are the scapegoat for environmental toxins, and in captive animal systems, there are large amounts of viruses – such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia in feces.10 Then there are toxins in feed, such as arsenic added to chicken feed, and mycotoxins, tropanes and beta-carboline alkaloids in soybean meal.11
By blaming a virus that doesn’t exist, agriculture officials can avoid stepping on any big industry’s toes and add to the public’s growing distaste for the captive animal system.
As early as 2006, researchers Crowe and Englebrecht published an article titled “Avian influenza virus H5N1: no evidence of its existence, pathogenicity, or pandemic potential; non-‘H5N1’z causality ignored.”12 Nothing has changed since then.
Here’s your homework: Contact the USDA at Aphispress@usda.gov and ask for proof of isolation of the HPAI virus or any virus in the milk of sick cows.
Lie 2: The national laboratory confirmed the existence of highly pathogenic avian influenza through testing
They did not disclose the type of test they used, but it was almost certainly a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test. PCR tests detect genetic material in a sample of pathogens or abnormal cells and allow researchers to make a copy of a small portion of DNA or RNA. The test is not designed to identify or diagnose a disease, but rather to amplify or increase certain genetic material.
Each “magnification” is twice the size of the material. If you magnify thirty times, you will get a negative number; if you magnify it 36 times or more, you will get a positive result. After 60 amplifications, everyone will “test positive” for any genetic material you think causes disease.13 If you want to show that a pandemic is brewing, amplify, amplify, amplify. Folks, this is not a valid test, and it’s not good science by any stretch of the imagination – especially since there was no virus in the first place.
How much amplification did our health officials perform on samples obtained from milk from sick cows? Be sure to ask Aphispress@usda.gov when you email them for virus evidence.
Lie 3: “Viruses” are highly pathogenic
According to the Wall Street Journal, one (only one) dairy worker became ill after coming into contact with a cow suspected of being infected with H5N1 avian influenza and tested positive for avian influenza.14
The individual reported eye redness or conjunctivitis as his only symptoms, which could be explained by exposure to multiple airborne toxins in the confinement dairy farm. (How are they treating this disease? With vitamin A and herbal eye drops? No, the poor guy is being treated with toxic antiviral drugs.)
According to the CDC, the human illness ranges from mild infection, including upper respiratory tract and eye-related symptoms, to severe pneumonia. If this “virus” is so pathogenic, we would expect many of the workers working around these sick cows to end up in the hospital…but so far we haven’t heard of anything like this.
Myth No. 4: You may be infected with bird flies by drinking raw milk, but pasteurized milk is safe
According to medical biologist Peg Coleman,15 “recent risk communication Information from the CDC, FDA, and USDA regarding the transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus or HPAI (subtype H5N1) to humans through raw milk includes no supporting evidence of Virus spread from raw milk to humans In the peer-reviewed literature.
one extensive scientific evidence From the peer-reviewed literature… Indeed Hypothesis not supported by these U.S. government agencies [nonexistent] HPAI is sexually transmitted to humans through milk or foodborne route and cause disease.Scientific evidence also does not support the recommendation that consumers should avoid raw milk and raw dairy products [emphasis in the original]”.16
Coleman points out that a range of bioactive components in raw milk, including cow’s milk, can destroy pathogens and strengthen the intestinal lining. “Many bioactive components in raw milk…are heat-sensitive and may be absent, inactive, or present in lower concentrations in pasteurized milk.
Interdisciplinary evidence suggests that raw milk from healthy cows is not inherently dangerous, consistent with CDC 2005-2020 trend evidence and benefit and risk evidence. There is no scientific evidence that highly pathogenic avian influenza in raw milk causes disease in humans.
While the USDA, FDA, and CDC assure the public that pasteurization ensures milk safety, they note that “milk from infected animals is being diverted or destroyed,” which means pasteurization By itself it does not guarantee safety. Regardless, sales of industrial pasteurized milk continue to decline.
Fortunately, raw milk drinkers are already skeptical of government claims and adept at spotting lies. Raw milk dairy farms, both large and small, say sales are booming. The current bird flu turmoil is just another crossroads in America, a bunch of lies perpetrated by the dishonest dairy industry to compete.
About the author
Sally Fallon Morell is the author of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions and many other books on diet and health. She is the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org) and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk (realmilk.com). Please visit her blog: nutritioningtraditions.com.