American Nostalgia
How much more American can you be than mom’s homemade chocolate cookies and a big glass of good ole milk? Maybe we can include apple pie and Chevrolet but I digress. But I used the word ‘American’ in that question for a reason. Milk is really not the same throughout the world. It is different here in these United States.
What’s With Our Milk
What if you had a product that was illegal in New Zealand, Australia, all of Europe, and Canada that was not only found on just about every US store, but also encouraged to be consumed by the USDA, FDA, AMA, etc.? We have that in milk. Not just milk but all dairy products and other types of products that use dairy in their composition. The main culprits are the things that we are feeding and injecting into cows. A single glass of milk can contain a mixture of as many as 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones. Using a highly sensitive test, scientists found the chemicals in samples of cow, goat and human breast milk. So with your cookies you get to ingest niflumic acid, mefenamic acid, ketoprofen, diclofenac, phenylbutazone, naproxen, flunixin, diclofenac, florfenicol, estrone, 17-beta-estradiol, 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol, and pyrimethamine. This cocktail of ingredients are various anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, (natural, sex, and steroidal hormones), and anti-fungal drugs.
Genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH) is used on about 70% of all milk found in the United States. The problem is, finding the 30% is next to impossible. You see, the USDA and FDA do not require that products containing these chemicals be labeled as such. That’s right, no disclosure is required, but is banned in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and in the 27 countries of the European Union because of its dangers to human health. It’s no secret that girls begin menstruating at much earlier ages, that breast cancer incidence has increased, and that diabetes, and other diseases are on the rise. The correlation between these and the use of rbGH is hauntingly similar.
Cows receiving this synthetic hormone suffer massively high rates of mastitis, a painful infection of their udders, resulting in the need for routine administration of antibiotics and other drugs. The Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research (2003) found 16 different harmful medical conditions resulting from rBGH administration to dairy cattle, including:
40 percent increase in infertility
55 percent increased risk for lameness
Shortened lifespan
Hoof disorders
Visibly abnormal milk
This is inhumane treatment for a product that is dangerous for human consumption.
What To Do
You very well may be drinking rBGH milk, or eating rBGH cheese or yogurt, as no labeling is required. This is despite the fact that surveys show that more than 80 percent of Americans want it labeled, but the government, as usual, continues bowing to industry lobbyists. At best you can start drinking RAW milk if it hasn’t been outlawed where you live or you have access to it. Beware that the Federal government has been cracking down on farmers that have been providing it. Next best is organic milk that is now available just about everywhere. Thirdly, join groups that are in favor, 80% of everyone wants these products labeled, and that are trying to make it mandatory that these products are labeled.
If people start doing a little research they will find that not only with milk, but just about ALL food that is pushed by the food industry, have components in them that are pushed by financial and agricultural lobbies and that have a huge influence on the laws we have in place. People can market and produce whatever they want, but please disclose the ingredients and let consumers make their own decisions.
