Whole Foods in California, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut to Stop Raw Milk Sales
According to David Gumpert, blogger at the Complete Patient, and confirmed by raw milk dairyman, Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy, Whole Foods will stop raw milk sales in California, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
Mr. Gumpert quoted Mr. McAfee:
The reason for the action He says he was told the order came from Whole Foods' corporate based on difficulties the company had gaining insurance coverage. "The insurance will not cover any liability if they include raw milk," according to McAfee.
There is some speculation that the cessation of sales had something to do with a Marler Blog post several months ago - "Risky Business - Why would a retailer, like Whole Foods, sell Raw Milk?" However, it most likely is simply that Whole Foods values its customers like:
Margot Standish was seven years old in June 2008, when she became infected with E. coli O157:NM as the result of consumption of raw milk. Her symptoms began in late June, with diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. Her regular physician treated Margot over the period of more than a week, but her condition began to deteriorate, and she was admitted to the hospital on July 8. Laboratory tests conducted that day provided evidence that Margot had been suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Thankfully, Margot’s renal insufficiency did not deepen to the point that dialysis was required. She remained hospitalized through July 14. Medical bills exceeded $30,000. As a result of her HUS, Margot will need to have her renal function monitored regularly for the rest of her life.
And, Kalee Prue, a 27-year-old mother of one, became infected with E. coli O157:NM in June 2008, as the result of consumption of raw milk. Her symptoms began in early July, and intensified for several days. On two occasions, Kalee sought treatment in the emergency room. On July 12, it became apparent that she was developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). She was then admitted to the hospital on July 13. Kalee’s renal failure was complete and prolonged, and she required plasmapharesis from July 13 through August 11. Severe anemia necessitated repeated transfusions with packed red blood cells as well. By the time she was released from the hospital on August 14, she had incurred over $230,000 in medical bills. Kalee has not recovered full renal function. She is at severe risk for long-term renal complications, including end stage renal disease (ESRD), dialysis, and transplant.
Both Margot and Kalee where part of the same E. coli O157:NM Outbreak. The milk they consumed was purchased at Whole Foods.
Too bad - I bought my Raw Milk from there and they will lose a lot of money from the decision - its the government, pasteurized dairy board and their smear campaign that cause Raw Milk fears. Its much safer then most products on the market (re. massive processed food recalls, bagged salad contamination etc...)
Whole Foods also sells D-mannose
Well, if WF is to eliminate all products that have ever caused ecoli or similar problems, they are going to be down to a scanty selection of foods on their shelves.
I am lucky to have a contact at one of the dairies that supplies the community directly. I feel sorry for all of the people that won't be able to enjoy the obvious benefits of farm frsh raw dairy.
My family has been drinking Organic Pastures Raw Milk for 4 years and have never been sick. What a terrible loss for the community. Obtaining raw milk at Whole Foods was what got me started shopping at Whole Foods. Now that I get my vegetables delivered from Farm Fresh to You and my eggs from a neighbor and can obtain grass fed beef from several locations I might not need to make the drive. There are co-ops in the area from which you can obtain Organic Pastures products.
I'm really upset at this move, as I buy all of my raw milk from Whole Foods. I also feel sorry for the raw milk farmers who do a great job of producing a safe and nutritious product.
Raw milk is nature's perfect food.
The thing about these cases, terrible as they are, is there is no evidence reported here that raw milk actually was the vector for the E. coli 0157 transmission. As has been noted before, the FDA and CDC are tremendously biased against raw milk, even though by their own figures pasteurized dairy products sicken and kill many, many more people than raw milk dairy does. (I have yet to read of a documented death by raw milk.) In fact, when there is food-borne illness reported, the FDA and CDC ask whether anyone drank raw milk. If yes, they assume that's the culprit and end the investigation. It's been documented in numerous cases that they do this even when not all the people who got sick in a particular outbreak drank raw milk, but they all did something else like eat at the same hot dog stand, and most of the people who drank the same batch of raw milk didn't get sick. It's very sloppy investigative work that doesn't qualify as science. My latest blog post links to a couple of press releases on this topic (http://jeanmarietodd.wordpress.com/) or just go to www.realmilk.com for more info on the FDA/CDC vendetta against raw milk.
You have to wonder how dairy-drinking humans survived to the 20th century if raw milk were so dangerous.
Raw Milk outbreaks do happen. Instead of denying that they do, learn from them.
http://www.marlerblog.com/2009/10/articles/legal-cases/raw-milk-outbreaks-do-happen-despite-what-the-weston-a-price-foundation-and-the-complete-patient-aka-david-gumpert-say/
And yet, there are many more outbreaks of pasteurized milk products, and as I said, when the so-called raw milk outbreaks are closely examined, the evidence is paltry at best that it's the actual cause. I've been following the issue for years quite closely. So why are you not looking more closely at the so-called evidence against raw milk?
Any food can be mishandled and can spread disease. Including pasteurized, irradiated, etc., food. Pasteurization is no guarantee that milk won't be contaminated after it is treated, and that happens fairly often, compared with certified raw milk. Raw milk dairies are held to much stricter standards of cleanliness, and the best ones use only milk from pastured cows, producing a far superior product.
Jeanmarie - Come on, do you really think that these outbreaks and illnesses did not happen? Do you believe they were not related to raw milk consumption?
http://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/2009/12/articles/food-poisoning-information/before-you-consider-drinking-raw-milk-please-read-this-and-watch-these-videos/
You might disagree with my perspective, but I have tried to be consistent:
1. Raw milk should be sold only on farms that are certified by the state and inspected and tested regularly. Make ambiguous black market milk/cheese sales and "pet food sales" meant for human consumption clearly illegal;
2. Raw milk should not be sold in grocery stores or across state lines--the risks of mass production and transportation are too great; the risk of a casual purchase by someone misunderstanding the risks is too great, as well;
3. Farms should be required to have insurance coverage sufficient to cover reasonable damages to their customers;
4. Practices such as outsourcing (buying raw milk from farms not licensed for raw milk production) should be illegal;
5. Colostrum should be regulated as a dairy product, not a nutritional supplement;
6. Warning signs on the bottles and at point-of-purchase should be mandatory. An example: "WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria (not limited to E. coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Listeria and Salmonella). Pregnant women, infants, children, the elderly and persons with lowered resistance to disease (immune compromised) have the highest risk of harm, which includes Diarrhea, Vomiting, Fever, Dehydration, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Reactive Arthritis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Miscarriage, or Death, from use of this product."
Bill,
Raw milk safety is not improved by the location in which you drink the raw milk. If a security seal is added at the dairy on the farm it is just as safe at a store.
OPDC has a world class food safety program...it is called RAMP. It has been in effect for 2 years and it has been audited by WF. OPDC also has plenty of quality insurance.
We will continue to serve our consumers through 325 other stores in CA that love us. We will also add more stors in areas that have only WF stores.
If you are working with the FDA to crush raw milk...you have just succeeded and market stimulation. Thank you we very much appreciate the free promotion and attention to this national disgrace.
When will you ever address the American Immune system and the sterile foods and antibiotics that cause it...raw milk is the best immune food on earth. When will you ever address the fact that the last three deaths from milk was pasteurized milk in MA in 2007....not raw milk.
Your bias is showing again. We all know you drank raw milk as a child....that is what makes you so damn smart and tough.
Mark
bill,
the fda is not interested in protecting public health. my local dairy farmer is.
i think consumers would be interested to know that the fda created the conditions (ground up, diseased animals being used as feed) that gave us mad cow disease. where's our warning label for that?
in 1985, 197,000 people were sickened across three states from pasteurized milk. pasteurized low fat milk contains powdered milk which contains oxidized cholesterol, which is linked to heart disease. no warning label required.
antibiotic-resistant disease is also courtesy of the fda, because the livestock is pumped full of pharmaceuticals .. and then we eat them. milk cows on large dairy farms have pus in their milk, because they're sick due to their diet and the filthy conditions of the 'farms.' thanks to pasteurization, that's all overlooked.
genetically modified crops are soaked in pesticides and fertilizer made from the same materials (fossil fuels) that were used to produce agent orange and bomb fuel. hm, no warning label there either.
thanks for the 'warning' bill, but i'll stick with my raw milk.
melissa brown