I think Raw Milk made my family sick - Page 2

[ChillyWilly]

[QUOTE=rhiandmoi;12212080] I am very surprised that with as many people reporting similar symptoms and all consuming the same raw milk that they would not want to test some of the milk that was purchased, and not just the milk that was still at the dairy.


Actually, one (that I know of, there could have been others) of the families who were thought to have been made ill from the milk was contacted by the state and did give the state a sample of the milk they had been drinking. If that sample tested clean, how could they have gotten sick from that milk ?

[Gale Force]

The most sensitive pathogen tests take a couple of weeks to culture, so we may know more at some point. But if they've got actual milk involved and it's been refrigerated, that could be a good indicator. I don't know what the false negative rate is.

[LotusBirthMama]

In my area you can buy raw milk right from the main grocery store. I used it for my toddler after he weaned. He was the only one to drink it and he became ill (diarrhea, high fever) and I didn't feel comfortable continuing to give him the raw milk. But in my case, I have no issue with regular milk, so it wasn't a huge deal for me.

[littleflower11]

I just wanted to say that your illness sounds like an intestinal virus my boys just got over. They had high fevers, then the diarrhea kicked in for a week. My dh and I didn't get sick, however, so we never questioned our milk. We are in Ohio, and maybe there is just a virus being spread around this part of the country. Just a thought.

[WuWei]

We purchase raw milk over the state line in order to have it. If we became ill with a diarrhea illness, alongside our raw milk buying group of families, I would contact the source directly. Not the government. I would want our farmer to be aware of our issue, concern, correlation and number of folks affected. I trust that our milk source would be similarly concerned and want to be informed.

I don't know what would transpire. But, the source's reaction would influence my future buying. If they just dismissed, denied or discounted the correlation of our illness, that would give me pause. I'd expect that they would WANT our milk to be tested, to have a clean bill of health. Even if they had the milk tested privately, at their own expense.

Accountability to the health of the clients, cows and milking process could be evidenced by their concern, imo. An active *relationship* with the raw milk provider is the greatest deterrent to lax caretaking, I believe. I fully believe that our milk provider would be VERY concerned to learn about this chain of events, even in the face of the government's inquiry. But, I personally, wouldn't want to contact the government, in any way.


Pat

OT: BTW, Gale Force are you the "Amanda Rose"?


Pat

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by WuWei

OT: BTW, Gale Force are you the "Amanda Rose"?

:

I like your advice. Pathogens happen. The relationship with the farmer depends on the level of concern. That's really my beef with where I used to get my milk. Families who did get sick in its bigger outbreak were pariahs. We should support fellow raw milk drinkers, regardless of how they got sick, even if we never really know how.

[summerlilies]

I know the farm that you are talking about. I have talked to the farmer, seen the cows getting milked, understand their testing procedures, and have bought milk and other products from them.

I fully trust their milk and will continue to buy it and give it to my two young kids.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

Summerlilies, can you PM me with which farm it is?

[earthmama369]

Originally Posted by littleflower11

I just wanted to say that your illness sounds like an intestinal virus my boys just got over. They had high fevers, then the diarrhea kicked in for a week. My dh and I didn't get sick, however, so we never questioned our milk. We are in Ohio, and maybe there is just a virus being spread around this part of the country. Just a thought.

Yeah, I'm in CT and I've got the same thing right now. I've had it for three days now and am just starting to feel human again. The doctor said it's going around in a major way and it's viral and fairly contagious.

[avendesora]

Thanks for all your replies.

I think we will keep buying the raw milk.

I do think it's possible that the milk could have been clean, but the outside of the jugs could have been handled with less-than-sterile hands.

I do think that it was related somehow to the milk, jugs or farm. Because some this farm's-milk-drinkers not from our town had gotten sick (as it was on the news), and all (but one) of our pick-up group got sick, and no one else that I know of in our town were sick except for the raw-milk-drinkers. And there are lots in our town that do not grocery shop conventionally.

I am curious about the choice of words used in the emails from the farm:

At NO time during this whole process, has any product DIRECTLY linked to [name] Farms and Dairy tested positive for any harmful pathogen

Their own emphasis. Does this mean that products linked to the farm did test positive, but they weren't directly linked? What would that mean? Perhaps milk in people's fridges tested positive after they had been opened? What do you do with that information?

By the way, the farm did get its certification back.

I know, it was dumb to give the kids milk when they were sick. I didn't give them glasses, just a small amount in their cereal in the morning. Next time I'll give them toast for snacks and lunch, and breakfast.

Aven

[AJP]

I have no opinion about this particular farm or instance of people getting sick, but I'm curious about the comments about not giving kids milk when they're sick with something intestinal. Why, specifically? I've never noticed any difference in my or my family's digestion or elimination related to milk or other dairy foods, whether we're sick or not. My family isn't generally susceptible to diarrhea-type illnesses, so maybe others react differently because of their constitution, or I just haven't had enough experience with that type of illness to really notice a difference. I've also never noticed that raw milk has any effect on mucus during a cold-type illness for myself or my kids, but lots of people seem to hold the opinion that it makes it worse (granted, mostly they're talking about pasteurized).

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by AJP

I have no opinion about this particular farm or instance of people getting sick, but I'm curious about the comments about not giving kids milk when they're sick with something intestinal. Why, specifically? I've never noticed any difference in my or my family's digestion or elimination related to milk or other dairy foods, whether we're sick or not. My family isn't generally susceptible to diarrhea-type illnesses, so maybe others react differently because of their constitution, or I just haven't had enough experience with that type of illness to really notice a difference. I've also never noticed that raw milk has any effect on mucus during a cold-type illness for myself or my kids, but lots of people seem to hold the opinion that it makes it worse (granted, mostly they're talking about pasteurized).

I expect it is because the general advice is "Until diarrhea subsides, try to avoid caffeine, milk products, and foods that are greasy, high in fiber, or very sweet. These foods tend to aggravate diarrhea."
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diarrhea/

I would expect that pasteurized dairy does cause more mucus production than raw dairy, again due to the enzymes decreasing the intolerance that many folks experience.



Pat

[AJP]

Hmm. Can't say I'll take the NIH's word about how to eat, sick or not.

I've read people on another forum saying they'd had problems with chronic diarrhea, and when they started drinking raw milk it slowed them down enough that they didn't have to plan their lives around bathroom access anymore. And I know some "high in fiber" foods like flax seeds actually constipate me if I eat too much. Not to say milk isn't a problem for some people with diarrhea, but I suspect a lot of conventional "wisdom" (?) statements like that NIH quote aren't based in fact, and/or apply only to some people some of the time. Like the "feed a fever, starve a cold" type thing.