‘20/20 segment to feature local E. coli tragedy - (North County ...

‘20/20 segment to feature local E. coli tragedy - (North County ...
By food
Mueller was further cited as asying he got involved with the then-Leucadia-based Safe Tables Our Priority, or STOP, an organization that creates awareness of E. coli. In 1994, he joined the group’s board of directors and was elected its ...

I also love using this ENCINITAS — Rainer Mueller was cited as saying he continues sharing the story of his son’s death from E. coli poisoning in hopes that it may help others avoid the same tragedy that struck his family 13 years ago.

The story says that desire was part of the reason Mueller agreed to be interviewed for a two-hour special on food safety, which airs at 9 tonight on ABC’s “20/20″ (segment may have gotten bumped — dp)

Mueller, a computer analyst for the city of Encinitas, said he also wanted to talk about food irradiation, a method of decontaminating food that he believes is the answer to food safety concerns, stating, “I tell my story and let people know what’s happened. From that, people can make the correct decision. If enough people become outraged by what’s happened, they can really effect a change.”

When his son, Eric, was 13 years old, Mueller said he became violently sick with an illness that his doctors struggled to diagnose.

Since E. coli wasn’t well known in 1993, Mueller said he didn’t understand what caused his son’s death until afterward.

Mueller was further cited as asying he got involved with the then-Leucadia-based Safe Tables Our Priority, or STOP, an organization that creates awareness of E. coli.

In 1994, he joined the group’s board of directors and was elected its president two years later.

For more information on Eric’s ECHO, go to www.ericsecho.org. Okay, okay you may have heard on the news: firm says E. coli vaccine for cattle protects food (CTV.ca) The Canadian company behind a new cattle vacine that helps keep potentially deadly E. coli bacteria out of food and water supplies is ramping up production and casting its eyes south of the border. Maybe this could help food regulator keeping eye on US cloning moves (ABC via Yahoo!7 News) The food safety regulator says authorities in Australia are a long way from having to decide if food from cloned animals is safe to eat.Did you know that Food means a specified kind of nourishment: breakfast food; plant food.. Maybe this could help milk: not an issue to fool with - (Owen Sound Sun Times (ON)) Bill Moses of Meaford, Ontario, writes to say it would be foolish to be swayed by anecdotal evidence in regards to the drinking of raw milk. It is common to hear stories of raw milk being consumed when I was a kid, presumably with no ill effects.

Let us remember that no one wore seatbelts in the olden days either. Yet today you would be considered a loony to advocate not wearing one.

I imagine one could argue that there are healthful enzymes in raw meat that are destroyed when it is cooked. Yet today no one would promote eating undercooked hamburger.

It is a fact that milk, meat and even water are ideal breeding grounds for all matter of nasty organisms. Surely no one will deny that.

After Walkerton many people lost their confidence in drinking water from municipal water systems. It could be argued that resources now used to produce bottled water are being diverted from products and services that would benefit society more. As well, what were and are the ongoing costs of the whole Walkerton fiasco (both financial and emotional)?

What would happen if people lost confidence in drinking milk? It is easy to imagine that the harm that would do far exceeds the supposed health benefits of drinking raw milk.

————-
Jodi Kaboni, Owen Sound writes regarding the letter from Hazel Lynn, medical officer of health to say that whether unpasteurized milk is better or healthier is not for you to decide. You have your opinion and advice. This debate shouldn’t destroy Mr. Schmidt’s living and hard work. I myself was raised on a farm in Grey County and drank unpasteurized milk, and as you can read, I’m still alive and well.

You’ve reported (November 27/06) from third-party sources, that this tasty, creamy cocktail has ended lives in various parts of the world, and for that Mr. Schmidt feels bad, but it wasn’t his cows or his milk.

Your title caught my attention, and I’m sure that it will start many responses that will appear after mine. We as people in this country and county have the right to choose what to drink and where to purchase it, whether it comes from the convenience store or Mr. Schmidt. If Mr. Schmidt decides to go underground, well all the best to him.

There are other sources out there that can cause diseases, other than unpasteurized milk. For instance - what about the people who sell unpasteurized honey, or vegetables from someone’s garden. Or how about the Mennonites and their syrup?

The list continues with public church BBQ’s and last but not least immunizations (oops!)

Thank you farmers for all (milk included) of the food that you provide to feed the rest of us, including those who want to shut you up or down. P.S. Thank you to Mr. Schmidt.

—————-
Kim White, Chatsworth, writes to comment about the scare tactics used by government officials whenever they feel hard-pressed to get the public unquestioningly in line - and fast. You would almost think that myself and well over 100 others must have been dropping dead like flies over the last 12 years. And if we didn’t - it was sheer luck. It could almost be a little amusing (if total control over our food supply wasn’t such a critically serious isue).

It makes very little sense to say that nothing has changed in 75- 100 years. And even if our officials want to insist that no amount of clean animal husbandry can prevent disease organisms in milk, surely to goodness they cannot argue that modern testing methods can now be used to determine whether or not pathogens are present.

I do agree with Dr. McQuigge on one thing: not all food is safe and secure. In fact, almost none of it is. Does this mean we should not eat?

Could there also be an intention to make us believe that processed foods are better and safer than than those created by foolish God/ Nature? (hmmm, I wonder why this might be?). People, the food we should trust by far the least (and I don’t care whether it has an organic label or not), is that which is mass produced with only one concern in mind: how the most money can be made in the shortest amount of time using the cheapest production methods possible. Believe me, our health is of very minor importance in this calculation.

The new and virulent bacteria that Dr. McQuigge talks about did not “find their way” into our farms: they were “created” by overuse of antibiotics (OK’d by our government protectors, no problem) in mass production farming with no thought or concern for what the future might bring. I will take food from a man like Michael Schmidt, who cares about what he’s doing, cares about the future of the land and about the welfare of humankind, any day.

Dr. McQuigge’s choice of words “tantamount to manslaughter” in his letter of Dec. 4 were very fitting, it’s just that they were not applied appropriately.

—————–
Lynda Bumstead, Grey Bruce Health Unit, writes to say that in response to Mr. Jolley’s column regarding his assertions that consumption of pasteurized milk constitutes a health risk. I offer you my professional opinion on the matter. Please allow me to present my background and experience. I am currently manager for the Chronic Disease Prevention program for the Grey Bruce Health Unit.

I graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelors of Science, I have been a registered dietitian for 25 years and most recently completed the requirements for a masters of health science from the University of Sydney, Australia.

My masters considered aspects of nutrition and chronic disease. I will leave the politics of this debate to others and will address specifically the three points made by Mr. Jolley regarding the alleged negative effects of pasteurization of milk in Ontario.

Pasteurization does not significantly reduce nutrient content in milk.

As stated by Dr. Douglas Powell, director of the Food Safety Network at Kansas State University, “The only things lacking in pasteurized milk are the bacteria that make people - especially kids - seriously ill.”

Milk contains calcium, vitamins A, D, E, biotin, pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid and niacin, all of which remain stable during the heating process. It is true that thiamine, folate, B-12, riboflavin and vitamin C all degrade during pasteurization.

Vitamin C loss can be as high as 25 per cent, but because milk is a very poor source of Vitamin C, the loss is not considered noteworthy.

Losses with respect to thiamine, folate, B-12, and riboflavin can range from zero to 10 per cent for each and are considered minimal.

Nutrients are added to milk but not because of pasteurization. Vitamin A is only added to skim, one per cent and two per cent milk to replace what is lost when the milk fat is removed.

This is not due to pasteurization. It is due to the reduction of fat content of milk. Vitamin D is added to all pasteurized milk to aid in the absorption of calcium. This is very important to those adults who drink milk to prevent osteoporosis. It’s important to keep the addition of nutrients in perspective.

Most household breakfast cereals contain additional synthetic nutrients that are universally accepted as a health benefit by consumers. Similarly many, if not most, consumers take over-the- counter supplements of vitamins and minerals.

Pasteurization does not kill enzymes that are essential to proper milk digestion, absorption of calcium and other nutrients.

In fact, humans rely on their own naturally occurring and present enzymes to digest all foods including milk. Naturally occurring enzymes found in milk are bovine (cow) enzymes and as such are not used by the human body in the metabolization of calcium and other nutrients. Cow’s milk is intended for calves not humans.

Pasteurization kills bacteria - both harmful and beneficial. Pasteurization removes some very dangerous pathogens that can lead to devastating and even fatal consequences. Those include Salmonella, tuberculosis, brucellosis, E coli, Listeria, and bacteria Campylobacter in addition to strep and staph infections.

It is true pasteurization kills bacteria that advance the fermentation of milk into cheese and yogurt, but live lactobacillus is re-introduced after pasteurization to safely make cheese and yogurt products.

As a mother I would not in good conscience serve unpasteurized milk to anyone, least of all a child, knowing disease-causing bacteria could be present. wow… this is such a great idea