Black market moo

The black market need not always involve shady characters in dark alleys-here in Virginia, it could be as close as your breakfast cereal.

Many ordinary Virginia families turn to a black market system to sell and purchase unpasteurized milk. To quench their thirst for rich creamy milk (or the nutrition they think is missing in store-bought milk) they travel to dairy farms many miles away and risk being caught breaking state and federal laws. Are they wisely recognizing the dangers inherent in modern farming methods and God's good provision in raw milk, or just being imprudent?

Selling raw milk is illegal by state law. Before 2005 Virginia regulations governing milk for manufacturing purposes covered only dairy products such as ice-cream, cheese and butter made from cow milk and did not apply to the dairy products of any other animal. That changed when the department issued new regulations covering the production and sale of dairy products from any animal. Now, to sell dairy products from any animal in Virginia, a dairy farm must be certified as a grade "A" farm and undergo frequent inspections and testing.

But milk is classified as a food. Individuals may consume with no regulation food grown and processed on their own farms, according to a 2005 law, provided the products aren't offered to the public. So some farmers now sell "shares" in milk animals to let customers qualify for the "living off the land" exemption and get around the prohibition against selling raw milk.

Why would otherwise law-abiding citizens take on the role of shady characters seeking to buy contraband? Raw milk may be somewhat more nutritious. Organizations such as the Weston A. Price Foundation, realmilk.com, and others champion traditional foods and discourage processing of any kind. Proponents claim that unpasteurized milk from free-range cows is a complete and properly balanced food.

Raw milk lovers also believe raw milk contains the maximum amount of the fats, vitamins, minerals, cholesterol and enzymes, and that pasteurization breaks apart some antibiotic protein enzymes that attack the cell walls of certain harmful bacteria.

And according to nutrition consultant Randolph Jonsson of Marin County, Calif., the lactobacilli contained in the carbohydrates of raw milk actually digests the lactose sugars, giving lactose intolerant people another shot at enjoying milk.

Raw milk supporters also claim that milk taken straight from animals raised on organic grass and rapidly cooled is ready for immediate consumption. Non "organically" produced milk needs pasteurization, they agree. A study by The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences showed that typical cattle feeds such as soy and alfalfa contain compounds that mimic the actions of the female hormone, estrogen. While the compounds can cause cows to produce more milk than they normally would--increasing profit per animal--some studies suggest there may be effects on animal health and nutrient content.

They also argue that cows bred and fed to produce hyperactive pituitary glands or injected with stimulant hormones such as Posilac can contract mastitis, or enflamed teats from producing excessive quantities of milk daily. This condition pumps high numbers of white blood cells, or puss, into the milk. Raw and organic milk consumers are not only concerned about the effects of mastitis, but also the potential for toxic drug residues within the milk.

The FDA finds none of this convincing. FDA studies have shown no medicinal benefits to raw milk; its website notes that lactose is present in the same concentrations in both raw and pasteurized milk. Unpasteurized milk encourages bacterial growth which can spread a combination of ten or more pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Brucella species. Infants, young children, the elderly and anyone whose immune system is compromised are especially susceptible.

The FDA's website also informs consumers that while most healthy people will recover from illness caused by harmful bacteria in raw milk products, some individuals can develop chronic, severe or even life threatening symptoms. One complication of E. coli, for example, is Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), which can cause acute renal failure, kidney failure, and ultimately death.

From 1998 to 2008, 85 outbreaks of human infections resulting from consumption of raw milk were reported to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). These outbreaks included a total of 1,614 reported illnesses, 187 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. Symptoms of illness caused by consuming raw milk include: vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, headache and body ache.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has apparently decided not to cry over spilled milk, refusing to actively pursue those dealing in the raw black market. Unless complaints are filed due to an outbreak of dairy poisoning, the purveyors of raw milk just slip through the cracks.

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