The fact that your child got Type 1 diabetes doesn’t necessarily have anything whatsoever to do with milk. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system is extremely complex in and of itself let alone in its interaction with environmental factors. It’s possible your daughter had some kind of mild infection you didn’t even notice but that the immune defense her body launched against the infection cross reacted with antigenic determinants on her insulin-producing cells in the pancreas wiping them out and thus giving her Type 1 diabetes. In Type 1 diabetes the body’s immune system mistakes the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas as foreign (non-self) and wipes them out. The etiology of Type 2 diabetes is so different it’s a whole other beast.

The concerns over A1 milk are quite valid. I hope that eventually, sooner rather than later, everyone will know and understand the A1/A2 milk issue. When this happens no one will want to drink A1 milk.

The way Fonterra handled the A1/A2 milk issue is an utter disgrace and scandal. I gather diary farmers here in New Zealand are quietly breeding their cattle to be homozygous for the A2 allele of beta casein. Certainly that is exactly what I would be doing if I were a dairy farmer. Fonterra once claimed it would be difficult to do this. What utter nonsense! All you have to do is test the cattle so you can select against the mutant A1 allele. It’s as simple as that.

Best wishes,
Jean
(Eugenie L Harris, PhD)

I have been missquoted. When I was contacted by the North American A-2 rep earlier this year….he said the that the North American A-2 company was out of business. I never said that the NZ A-2 was out of business. Either way…testing is not available in North America.

I am still very reluctant to place my bets on anything that has been pastuerized. All A-2 milk that has been commercially sold has been a pastuerized product. Proteins look like a car wreck after being heated to high temp. That effect could be as damaging or more so than any A-2 effect.

We are way early in any dicussion of a conclusive A-2 finding of a connection to disease. We are much much closer to a finding that grain fed pastuerized CAFO milk is dangerous. Raw milk from grass fed cows has been found to be healing and curative across the board.

I still would like to get our cows tested and I am looking forward to an email response from NZ A-2 and we will see what we can do then.

Mark McAfee
Founder OPDC

Am I concerned they could be right? Heck yes! Concerned enough to quit my current herd-share Amish milk in favor of another Amish farmer that provides raw goats milk? Possibly.

There’s just so much controversy involving the motives of both “powers that be”. On the one hand you have the vested interested of the “A2 shareholders” and the other the interests of the “established A1 parties”.

I watched this news report today called “White Mischief”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhKjzWKZiWQ&feature=related

Here’s a report from “The Medical Journal of Australia” citing A2 milk is allergenic: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/181_10_151104/letters_151104-1.html

And another from PubMed called “The A2 milk case: a critical review.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15867940?dopt=Abstract

Raw cows milk has made me healthier since I started drinking it many years ago. My concern is are my “feelings of health and wellbeing” masking a potential problem developing in my body?

Maybe switching over to goats milk is the safest bet. I just don’t know and may never know. This whole thing may be the result of some other protein or after all the A1 cows are breeded out someone finds a problem with the A2 cows that might explain problems our ancestors had to deal with thousands of years ago…or determines the whole “A1/A2″ controversy was a waste of time.

JM

My email to Andrew Clarke:

Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:55 a.m.
To: Andrew Clarke
Subject: A2 Corp out of business?

Andrew,

I’m reading comments from Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy in
California saying that the A2 Corporation is out of business and won’t
permit access to their patented A2 test.

Yet, it sounds like Gordon Watson of British Columbia was recently in
correspondence with you and you told him that A2 corporation was going
to authorize someone to do tests in North America. Is the A2
corporation still in business? And I see the website of the A2
corporation is still up.

As editor of the Bovine blog, I’ve published a number of stories on A2
milk and I’d appreciate it if you could clarify for me the status of
the A2 corporation and tell me how people in North America could get
their milk or animals tested, so I could publish that information.

Thanks,

Andrew’s responses:

We’re in the process of talking to a few groups in the US to license a
certified A2 tester.

Owing to the Company’s recent restructure we [don't] expect to finalise this
until the Chief Executive comes aboard at the end of next month. Please
follow these links for the last two press releases relating to A2C to
get a background on this.

http://www.nzx.com/markets/NZAX/ATM/announcements/4929030
http://www.nzx.com/markets/NZAX/ATM/announcements/4924151
http://www.nzx.com/markets/NZAX/ATM/announcements/4800742

Until then people can lodge their request/interest with us
info@a2corporation.com and we will get in touch to make appropriate
arrangements.

Kind regards

A further response from Andrew:

Apologies, I was working through my emails and sent through my reply
before reading this.

As you’ll see from my previous email Mr McAfee’s assertions aren’t
accurate and we are still very much in business!

Kind regards

“A-1 vs. A-2 Milk and the Book..”The Devil in the Milk”.

The Book should have been called ” The Devil in the Dead Milk”. It is very unfortunate that the author did not research the A-2 Corporation more carefully before dumping this concept on the World Stage.

Dr. Tom Cowan and I had a long talk about A-2 milk earlier this year. He was concerned that his discussion of A-2 milk would become an issue at OPDC.

Well it has.

At OPDC we have tried for three years to get the A-2 Corporation to test our milk. They were not interested three years ago or last year. Now they are out of business and will not permit access to their patented A-2 Test.

So we are screwed!! You can not test for A-2 genetics with the patented test locked up and now everyone is reading a book about how critical it is….

I have been working with a Lab in EU that says that they can do a test to verify A-2 genetics but this is very expensive and the lab is very new to this test. We will see how this goes…but for now A-2 testing is a wishful thought that literally can not be done.

One more thing…A-2 company was all about pastuerized A-2 milk. Not sure how vital and alive that product was or is. A-2 or A-1… I will take my grass fed organic milk raw….thank you very much.

Dead milk whether it is A-2 or A-1 is still dead milk. As for A-2 raw milk that is a pioneering proposition and OPDC is working hard to get this done.

CP…I am still waiting for your thoughts on your ( now my ) proposed Kefir, Raw Milk and Pastuerized milk pathogen recovery test. Are you interested in participating?
Please let me know your ideas….I am still waiting. I really want this test to a cooperative effort. You made the suggestiong and I followed up.Yet you do not respond.

Mark McAfee”

from this Complete Patient post:
http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2009/7/9/food-poison-lawyer-suggests-he-might-sue-wapf-as-fireworks-s.html#comments

http://doctormercola.com/2009/07/10/why-drink-raw-milk/

“attached is a message I got not long ago, from the A2 Corporation in New Zealand

also : I have a couple of Guernseys which are the start of my all-Guernsey herd.

I have been in communication with Guernsey Canada. Even though they don’t come on strong about A1 versus A2 milk, their policy is that all pedigreed Guernsey bulls now being used for Artificial Insemination in Canada, have been selected to sire progeny with A2 genetics

Gordon S Watson

A2 Corporation

Please advise me where we can get our cattle tested to determine their genetics for the A1 and A2 traits

I have heard a rumour that Texas A & M University offers this test … is that so?

thank you

Gordon S Watson
Burnaby British Columbia Canada

Dear Mr Watson,

Texas A&M have no agreement to with A2 Corporation to provide any services relating to A2 technology.

Currently there are no certified/licensed A2 testers in North America, but we are working to put one in place shortly.

Please provide me with further details relating to your testing and/or provide me with a contact number to get hold of you.

Kind regards

Andrew

Andrew J Clarke
A2 Corporation Ltd.
Level 5, 235 Broadway
Newmarket, Auckland 1023
NEW ZEALAND

Telephone +64 9 5233129
DDI +64 9 5234793
Cell +64 21 672 521
andrew@a2corporation.com
http://www.a2corporation.com“