Letter from a Doctor to Hartke is Online!
Kim, you mention that raw milk is a probiotic food. Perhaps that is the tactic us raw milkers should take when dealing with the FDA/USDA. It is meant to have certain bacteria, non pathogens, and should be considered in the realm of yogurt and kefir only with lower bacterial count. By conceding that raw milk has probiotic bacteria, California could then get off OP’s (Organic Pastures Dairy) back to make the count near zero.
Rita G., Pittsburgh
Weston A. Price Member and Semi-retired pediatrician
Answer from Kimberly
Yes, Rita this is absolutely what we need to push for–the status of raw milk among the very important pro-biotic foods in the human diet. Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation made this point in her testimony before the California State legislature last year. It is one reason that we got nearly unanimous support from the legislators for SB 201. The only thing that stopped the bill was a veto from the Governor. Raw milk proponents need to focus on educating the California governor and his staff on the nature of raw milk as a health promoting and body building food.
4 Comments
While I agree with the intent when dealing with the FDA, the Codex Alimentarius on July 4, 2005 in Rome, Italy, legally defined at the international level foods (YES, FOODS!) and dietary supplements as drugs.
I know there are many who do not think this will affect America, however, it is the intent of the FDA and every other govt agency to “harmonize” laws to and with the international level.
Petitioning the govt will not change anything as long as the US is a part of the UN.
I don’t want to discourage people, but I do think that efforts can be better focused when the truth of the situation is known.
This is one reason that I support the 10th Amendment State Sovereignty movements, especially here in Oklahoma. States can and SHOULD define these issues, independent of Washington DC.
The effort in California is to be applauded! This is the arena that true change may be made. The federal level is a waste of time, in my opinion.
Thank you for your excellent website and all the efforts you put forth for the benefit of your audience.
Very good points, Catherine! I appreciate knowing about Codex. That is something that I had not realized, the impact of international law on our domesic situation.
I like your advice, too. Focus on State level. All the more reason to get involved, where you live, in food politics!
Kimberly
I wonder if a push to recognize raw milk as a probiotic food would encourage more governmental intrusion. As it is, I know the lawmakers of my state are wanting to regulate foods that make health claims, even true ones, as drugs. You only need stroll the juice aisle at your store and see the claims of long dead foods as cholesterol-lowering, heart-protecting, antioxidant-containing “health foods.”
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While raw milk is a superb source of beneficial bacteria, there is another, related aspect that points up just how perfect a food raw milk is, and one I rarely see mentioned anywhere. I learned this from my mentor, Hollywood nutritionist Rheo H. Blair, back in the 70′s. We never hear anything good about lactose. In fact you almost never see the word lactose without the word “intolerance” next to it. That might be for a good reason with pasteurized milk. But with raw milk there is a whole other chapter that needs to be written on lactose. Rheo taught that lactose provides a most valuable service as it enables the system to produce a host of B-vitamins in the lower digestive tract, and without it, the favorable intestinal bacteria would not be able to flourish and aid in proper assimilation and elimination. So not only is raw milk a probiotic food, its lactose enables those probiotics to THRIVE! And let’s remember that the probiotics themselves are the answer for most people to lactose intolerance. Nature knew what it was doing!
(Should anyone be interested in more information on Rheo H. Blair, I am writing a book on his life and work; I maintain a research blog for the book at http://rheohblair.blogspot.com/)
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