Ron Hull Ph.D. and Dr. Ted Beals — Michael Schmidt’s expert witnesses

Here is some information (from what was presented at the pre-trial hearing December 22) about witnesses that Michael Schmidt will be calling at the trial in January. The first section is about Theodore (Ted) Beals and the second is about Ron Hull:

Ted Beals

I, Theodore F. Beals, being of sound mind and body and duly sworn, do hereby make the following statements based on my personal knowledge and to the best of my information and belief:
1. I am a resident of Grass Lake, Michigan, USA
2. I earned my Bachelors of Science, Masters of Science, and M.D. from the University of Michigan in 1956, 1957 and 1966 respectively.
3. I have been licensed to practice medicine in the State of Michigan since 1967.
4. I completed specialized residency training in pathology at the University of Michigan in 1971.
5. I am certified in Anatomic Pathology by the American Board of Pathology.
6. I have written a book on pathology and have written several chapters in other books on pathology.
7. I have published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles on medicine, microscopy, assays, cancer, and cytopathology.
8. During my career, I have been a member or officer of more than 20 professional organizations.
10. I have taught pathology to medical and graduate students at the University of Michigan for thirty years.
11. I have practiced pathology and administered the clinical laboratories at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
12. I served in the Senior Executive Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. for eight years.
13. I have testified several times in courts of law as an expert in pathology.
14. A true and accurate copy of my professional curriculum vitae is attached as Attachment A.
15. As a board certified pathologist I am qualified to investigate disease and make diagnoses.
16. In the context of milk for human consumption, my experience in pathology also deals with the microbiology and cellular aspects of disease.
17. Based on my professional training, education and experience I will be offering testimony on the topics outlined below:

A. Milk is inherently a highly nutritious and healthy food that should be an important component of the general public’s diet. Milk has historically and continues currently to contribute to the Public Health and Safety.

B. There is no food that is absolutely free of risk to the consumer. Furthermore, there is no way to eliminate all foodborne illnesses from the consuming public. To set standards based on totally eliminating foodborne illness, or based on a principle of zero tolerance is unsupported by scientific principles in general and public health science in specific.
C. Scientifically, and in practice the most effective way to minimize risk of infectious disease transmitted through consumption of milk is by eliminating the known sources of bacteria
that cause illness in humans from the farm and dairy operations. Such sources include: cows which are shedding such bacteria, milk handlers that are shedding such bacteria, and the environment.

D. It is unnecessary to use procedures to kill bacteria in milk that is to be consumed fresh by the general public unless it is known to contain adequate numbers of bacteria that will cause illness in the consuming public.

E. When a consumer obtains food directly from a farm, the general public is not involved. The responsibilities for the qualities of the food (both beneficial and adverse) are fully vested in those two parties. Therefore, there is no role for government in such a transaction.

Here’s an internet story mentioning Dr. Ted Beals.

Ron Hull:

I, Ronald Robert Hull, being of sound mind and body and duly sworn, do hereby make the following statements based on my personal knowledge and to the best of my information and belief

I am a resident of Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia.

I earned my Bachelor of Science (Honors), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Adelaide, South Australia in 1967 and 1971 respectively

My PhD thesis topic was the ‘Mode of action of Colicins’. Colicins are antibiotics produced by certain strains of Escherichia coli</em

I completed my post-doctoral training in the Molecular Oncology section of the Department of Pathology, Stanford University Medical Centre, Palo Alto, California in 1974.

In the period 1974 to 1984 I was a Research Scientist at the Dairy Research laboratory, Division of Food Science and Technology, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial research Organization (CSIRO) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. During that time I developed a new technology for control of virus infection in dairy fermentations. The technology was widely adopted by the Australian dairy industry and is now used worldwide

I was Curator of the CSIRO Starter Culture Collection, the primary reserve of several thousand strains of lactic acid bacteria used by the Australian dairy industry to manufacture cheese and fermented milks.

I was a guest researcher at Christian Hansen Laboratories, Denmark in 1985, researching commercial production of lactic cultures for cheese manufacture and probiotic cultures

In the period 1986 to 1994 I was Head of the Dairy Microbiology section in the CSIRO Division of Food Science in Melbourne. In this period a probiotic product was developed for oral immunization against rotavirus disease in newborn horses; and killing factors active against Helicobacter pylori were identified from lactic acid bacteria

In the period 1994 to present I am Principal Consultant and owner of Ron Hull & Associates, a technical food consulting business with clients in milk production and processing, distribution and retailing. I am also Technical Director of Semor Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, a bakery ingredient supply company.

I was Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the First International Conference on ‘Intestinal Micro-flora and Human Health’, held in Australia in 1996.

I am a coauthor of several books on dairy microbiology and fermented foods.

I have published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles on dairy microbiology, lactic acid bacteria, probiotics and the use of probiotics to control disease.

During my career, I have been a member or officer of five professional organizations.

I have taught dairy microbiology, dairy technology, food microbiology and food safety to science and graduate students at the University of Melbourne and the Victoria University of Technology for twenty years

I have served as a member of the Reference Group to the Food Standards Committee of the Victorian Department Health for five years.

I have testified several times in courts of law as an expert in dairy microbiology and food safety.

A true and accurate copy of my professional curriculum vitae is attached as Attachment A

Based on my professional training, education and experience I will be offering testimony on the topics outlined below

Raw milk is a safe food that provides immunity to infection. It is the first food of newborn mammals including man. It contains immunity factors and lactic acid bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tract establishing a microbial ecosystem that is stable and provides immunity to infection by pathogens.

Hygiene is defined as the science of health, its preservation and the prevention of disease. It is the practice of measures designed to attain and preserve health. Disease is the unhealthy state caused by toxic chemicals or by harmful microbes called pathogens. The scientific hierarchy of control of disease, including food-borne disease in order of importance is;
a. Immunity
b. The chemistry of the food; and
c The pathogen

Milk is available in two different forms, raw fresh milk and cooked (pasteurized or UHT) milk. Raw milk is a live food like fruits and vegetables. It contains many living systems that kill or inhibit pathogens. Most of these systems are destroyed by pasteurization

The public health problems historically associated with raw milk are scientifically understood and are controlled on an organic dairy farm. The key problems and their controls are
a. Diseased and stressed cows produce contaminated milk. These are problems in intensive farming where non-traditional feeding and housing of dairy cows is practiced. They cause the cows to shed pathogens. The milk of diseased cows is easily recognized by the uneven texture of the milk.
b. Water adulteration (addition of non-potable water) to milk, which adds pathogens directly to milk and also destroys the live components of milk
c. Use of sanitizers such as quaternary ammonium compounds that destroy the live components of milk. These sanitizers are promoted to farmers as a method of reducing the bacterial count in their farm milk. These compounds kill lactic acid bacteria used in Cheese and yoghurt making and also kill the immunity promoting bacteria in the gut of humans

Raw milk contains lactic acid bacteria, a key component of gut immunity, which is absent in pasteurized milk. Raw milk will always ferment to an acid product like yoghurt or cheese on storage and is harmless to consume; whereas pasteurized milks go rotten (putrefy) and will make one sick if consumed. Exhibit A, raw milk and Exhibit B, pasteurized milks

Pasteurized milk was first introduced to extend the shelf life of fresh foods such as milk (Pasteur). Today it is a useful food safety tool in marketing bulk farm milks that have a high probability of including milk from diseased or stressed cows

Both raw and pasteurized milks are safe foods and should be considered as different foods.