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Wisconsin / Demand, concerns rise for raw milk

Advocates tout benefits despite federal warnings

By M.L.

Associated Press

Article Last Updated: 04/12/2008 08:36:25 PM CDT

NEW HOLSTEIN — When Jane Ratajczak started buying raw milk for her

family about two and a half years ago, some people told her it would

kill her.

That didn't happen. But within four months, her straight hair began to

curl.

" Isn't it weird? " Ratajczak said.

Curling claims aside, dairy farmers say demand for unpasteurized, or

raw, milk is growing, spurred by concern about the chemicals, hormones

and drugs used in traditional dairy farming and by interest in organic

and locally grown foods.

With milk prices topping $5 a gallon, more dairies are selling raw

milk — and finding themselves at odds with public health officials.

The federal government and a majority of states prohibit sales of raw

milk to the public, claiming it is responsible for sickening hundreds

of people in the past decade with salmonella, E. coli, Listeria

monocytogenes and other bacteria.

" Raw milk continues to cause outbreaks year after year, " said

Sheehan, who oversees plant and dairy food products for the U.S. Food

and Drug Administration. " It is a concern for the FDA. "

Advocates dispute reports from the federal Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention and other health agencies. They claim raw milk provides

health benefits, including relief for allergies, asthma, autism and

digestive disorders.

" Raw milk is like a magic food for children, " said Sally Fallon,

president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit that

advocates consumption of whole, natural

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foods.

Pasteurization should not affect milk's taste, texture or nutritional

content, aside from a slight loss of vitamin C, said Bradley, a

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who has worked in food

science for 44 years.

However, the process can destroy proteins and enzymes that help the

body absorb vitamins and digest lactose, said Babb, a

registered dietitian who teaches at Bastyr University in Kenmore,

Wash. High heat also can damage water-soluble B vitamins, she said.

Growing Popularity / People looking for raw milk began showing up at

Kay and Wayne Craig's organic farm in eastern Wisconsin five or six

years ago. Many had digestive or other health problems.

" They're sick of being sick, and they're sick of the meds and the side

effects, and so they're looking for options, " said Wayne Craig, 50.

The couple had about 100 customers by the time they opened their

organic-products store three years ago. Now they have about 800.

No government agency or group tracks raw milk sales nationwide. But in

Washington state, the number of dairies selling raw milk to the public

grew from six to 22 in the past two years. In Massachusetts, the

number has more than doubled to 24 in the past five years even as the

overall number of dairies has declined.

Wisconsin has banned the sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk,

although it allows " incidental sales " by farmers. It also permits farm

owners to consume their own farms' milk.

That prompted Wisconsin farmers, like those in a number of other

states, to make a variety of arrangements to sell raw milk legally.

Farmers have sold shares in their cows, herds and milk licenses.

This, in turn, has led to lawsuits in states such as land and Ohio

as farmers and government officials wrangle over what qualifies as

ownership of a farm.

An administrative law judge in Wisconsin has said the state's farmers

cannot sell shares of their cows, herds or milk producer licenses to

get around restrictions on raw milk sales.

" You have to actually be investing in the farm and have a true

business partnership, " said Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman for the

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The Craigs — and their attorney — believe they have met that

requirement with an association's purchase of an $8,000 interest in

the farm. The association has 800 members who pay $10 to join and an

annual membership fee of $1.

Raw milk advocates caution that consumers shouldn't buy unpasteurized

milk from just any farm. Most insist their suppliers follow organic

farming practices and graze their cows.

" Without the green grass, you're missing a lot of vitamins, " Fallon

said. " Also, it's much safer. When cows are eating green grass, you

don't find pathogens in their milk. "

Ratajczak, 43, of Kiel, started buying raw milk from the Craigs after

reading a book about natural cures. She drinks four or five glasses a

day. The only effect she's noticed, she said, was that her hair curled

— and that could be because she eliminated aspartame from her diet at

the same time.

The FDA, however, insists " raw milk, no matter how carefully produced,

may be unsafe. " More than 1,000 people, including two who died, got

sick from raw milk or cheese made from raw milk from 1998 to May 2005,

according to the most recent count from the CDC.

Legal Fight / Seattle attorney Bill Marler is suing Organic Pastures,

the nation's largest organic raw milk dairy, on behalf of two children

who fell ill after consuming its products. Testing at the dairy farm

near Fresno, Calif., did not detect the strain of E. coli that

sickened the children, but a government report said the dairy was

likely responsible.

Marler, who also has sued other dairies, criticized states for bowing

to pressure from farmers and allowing raw milk sales — legally or not.

" My worry is that as it becomes more acceptable and becomes more

commercialized, you know, it will reach a critical mass where all of

the sudden you're going to get a whole bunch of little kids poisoned, "

Marler said. " And then everybody will throw up their arms and go,

'Whoa, we've got to stop this, we've got to pasteurize.' "

Organic Pastures, in turn, is suing the state of California to keep it

from enforcing a new law that would require raw milk to meet the same

bacterial standards as pasteurized milk. It won a temporary

restraining order last month, and a hearing on a more permanent order

is scheduled for April 25.

" They have never found a pathogen in our raw milk since we opened in

2000, " dairy owner Mark McAfee said. But properly produced raw milk

does contain bacteria that " help rebuild immune systems, " he added.

Raw milk producers have been targeted by the federal government and

traditional dairies concerned about losing their market share, McAfee

said. Both sides plan to produce experts and evidence during a joint

hearing Tuesday at the California Capitol that McAfee called " the

showdown at the raw milk corral. "