Personal Injury Law

Taking a Whack at Raw Milk - Again

By Bill Marler, Esq.

I must admit that I am a bit perplexed by the proponents of raw milk. On average it seems that they spend a disproportionate amount of time twittering on Twitter and posting angry comments on blogs – mine in particular - about 'Food Nazis' – of which I am apparently one, along with a long list of people not raw milk drinkers.

Perhaps its just me, but you would think that they would spend that time figuring out how they can make their magic elixir safe, or a safe as possible, and instead of breaking laws, working to change them. 

So, when given the chance for a bit of payback by Frederik Joelving of Reuters – 'Beware E. coli when drinking raw milk: study' – I frankly could not help myself:

"There has been a movement away from highly processed foods to organic foods," said Bill Marler, a Seattle-based lawyer who represented three of the sickened people in Connecticut. He recently settled the cases with the Simsbury farm that made the milk and the grocery store that sold it, but would not give the amount of the settlement.

"There are so many internet sites out there that talk about raw milk as if it cured everything from autism to erectile dysfunction," said Marler.

"You can absolutely do the best you can in producing raw milk, but because of the location of the cow's anus to the cow's udder, it makes it really difficult for the bacteria not to get into the milk," said Marler. "You can't tell a cow not to poop when it gets milked."

Raw milk sale between states has been banned for decades, but 10 states currently allow retail sale, according to Marler. He recommends that consumers visit www.realrawmilkfacts.com, a website developed by university and government scientists, for more information.

"A lot of states do have a variety of requirements, but it is a real hodgepodge of rules and regulations," he said. "There are really no particular standards or testing protocols."

He said raw cow milk usually costs at least twice as much as pasteurized milk in the store, while raw goat milk may run as high as 18 dollars per gallon.

"People are even touting raw goat milk as an alternative to mother's milk," he said. "It's a real concern."

Here is the Connecticut study.

And, me keeping track of just the 2010 Milk and Cheese recalls and outbreaks.

Full post as published by Marler Blog on November 25, 2010 (boomark / email).