FDA the odd man out on raw milk?

Of course Canada’s not mentioned here. Still, David E. Gumpert reports some fascinating news from the wider raw milk world. From his “The Complete Patient” blog:

“A few weeks ago, the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency came out with an eye-opening report on raw milk. This agency, the UK’s equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, acknowledged and accepted, at least on a minimal basis, the reality of raw milk, including the following:

* The FSA sought out the opinions of more than 100 raw milk consumers via “an innovative consultation event” on “options for controls for RDM (raw drinking milk).” “The overarching conclusion from the event is that there is an appetite among producers and current RDM consumers for increased consumer access to RDM…”

Cowsharing raw milk cosmetic farmer in Australia meets the Dairy Authority

From Paul Marks on Alternative Law Journal:

“Tyler set up ‘My Cow’, a cow-share program, about six years ago. Applicants purchase a one per cent share of a cow for $27.50. Shareholders then pay a small monthly boarding fee. Each share yields 6.5 litres of raw, unprocessed milk monthly. Shareholders may either collect the milk from the dairy or, if they pay a delivery fee, from one of a number of suburban Adelaide collection points.

A raft of Legislation, Regulation, Standards and Codes of Practice apply to milk production. Accreditation by the Dairy Authority is required to produce, transport or process milk. The sale of raw drinking milk is not permitted. A recent Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (‘FSANZ’) review of restrictions on the production and processing of raw milk decided ‘the risks associated with raw drinking milk cannot be reduced sufficiently and such products present a medium to high level of public health and safety risk’.

New Zealand to be “Lord of the Seeds”?

From InvestmentWatchBlog.com:

New Zealand coat of arms via Wikipedia. Click image to go.

“I was shocked to learn from a friend on the weekend that a new Food Bill is being brought in here in New Zealand.  The new bill will make it a privilege and not a right to grow food.

I find two aspects of this bill alarming.  The first is the scope and impact the new bill has, and secondly that it has all happened so quietly.  There has been VERY little media coverage, on a bill which promises to jeopardise the future food security of the country.

New Zealand farmers to sell raw milk

From the Canadian Raw Milk Consumer Advocacy Group:

“A total of 1685 submissions were received on the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI’s) discussion paper: Proposals for continuing to legally provide for farm gate sales of raw drinking milk (discussion paper). Of these, 1663 were from the general public, two of which were petitions with multiple signatures. A further five submissions were from public health agencies, three were industry-related organisations, ten had identified themselves as farmers, two were interest groups, one was from an academic institution and one was a food safety auditor from a private company.

“The vast majority of submitters (1561) supported the continuation of raw drinking milk sales. The reasons given by submitters for drinking and using raw milk included the superior taste when compared to pasteurised milk, perceived health benefits, a desire to purchase an organic and natural product and the ability to support local, small businesses.

Genetically modified cow to give milk which doesn’t cause allergic reaction

From Ian Sample, in The Guardian:

Click on image above to go to the Guardian story.

“A genetically modified cow whose milk lacks a substance that causes allergic reactions in people has been created by scientists in New Zealand.

In their first year of life, two or three in every hundred infants are allergic to a whey protein in milk called BLG. The researchers engineered the cow, called Daisy, to produce milk that doesn’t contain the protein.

Raw milk initiative in New Zealand

From Stuff.co.nz:

Picture via Three Wheeled Cheese

“A South Island company is setting a precedent by selling raw milk to consumers.

But plans to set up franchises around the country have stalled while other farmers await the outcome of a Ministry of Primary Industries review of raw milk regulations.

Village Milk is a Golden Bay business selling milk under the 1981 Food Act which allows farmers to sell up to five litres of milk daily to buyers who consume it themselves or provide it for their families.

66% of New Zealanders want legal raw milk according to recent poll results

From Ag Wired:

“Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Should raw milk be allowed for sale?” The question was prompted by one of the panelists at the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. She is a reporter with a food safety publication who says that this issue is the one that gets the most comments and response of any other.

This question generated the most comments of any ZimmPoll to date so I understand what she was saying. Actually, most comments wanted a 4th response option to allow the sale of raw milk but with sufficient regulation and testing to ensure it is safe. I saw the comments too late to make that change so I don’t know if these results would have been different. So the answer, Absolutely with no regulation received 66%; On a very limited and regulated basis received 20% and Definitely not, too many health concerns received 14%.

Codex in New Zealand’s new food law?

From Ethan A. Huff at Natural News:

“(NaturalNews) The health freedom of New Zealanders is under very serious threat, as the federal government there pushes to pass a bill known as the Natural Health Products Bill (NHPB), or Bill 324-1, that will bring the nation into compliance with the overbearing and authoritarian food and health restrictions found in Codex Alimentarius, the so-called world food code….”

If passed, NHPB will combine with the equally-threatening New Zealand Food Bill (http://www.naturalnews.com) to make it essentially illegal for individuals to even prepare for themselves, let alone try to sell, herbal products and teas, vitamins and supplements, or any other natural products that are not explicitly approved by the government as acceptable.

Censored? Is the WAPF’s Sally Fallon too controversial for New Zealanders?

From the Wellington New Zealand chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation Facebook page:

“Sally was booked to do an interview on the Kim Hill show this morning at 11:15am. But we hear Kim Hill pulled the pin at the last moment because she said Sally was “too controversial”

She didn’t actually tell Sally though, she just replaced her with Tony Taylor talking about his new fly fishing book. (Fishing the River of Time)

Could this be censorship?”

First learned of this story from Cryptogon.com, where they wrote:

“If anyone inside Radio NZ (yeah, I see that you’re reading) wants to tell me why Kim Hill pulled the plug on the Sally Fallon Morell interview, I’d be interested in hearing from you.”

Trying to take away the right to grow food… in New Zealand, of all places

From Martin on Investment Watch Blog. Thanks to Jacinta for the heads up:

Photo from the New Zealand blog Sunshine + Design. Click to go there.

“I was shocked to learn from a friend on the weekend that a new Food Bill is being brought in here in New Zealand.  The new bill will make it a privilege and not a right to grow food.

I find two aspects of this bill alarming.  The first is the scope and impact the new bill has, and secondly that it has all happened so quietly.  There has been VERY little media coverage, on a bill which promises to jeopardise the future food security of the country.

I read that the bill is being brought in because of the WTO, which of course has the US FDA behind it, and of course that is influenced by big business (Monsanto and other players).  It looks like this NZ food bill will pave the way to reduce the plant diversity and small owner operations in New Zealand, for example by way of controlling the legality of seed saving and trading/barter/giving away; all will be potentially illegal.  The best website to read about the problems with the new bill is http://nzfoodsecurity.org (I have no connection with this website)