5mo ago

USA | Bird flu detected in raw milk sold in California as fears rise of virus spreading

www.theguardian.com

Bird flu detected in raw milk sold in California as fears rise of virus spreading

No illnesses traced to batch as health officials warn consumers to avoid purchase

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241125145922/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/25/california-raw-milk-bird-flu

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2024%2Fnov%2F25%2Fcalifornia-raw-milk-bird-flu

31 comments

Let this be a warning to the current cabinet pick for health in the US!
Eh, who am I kidding.
- If they support raw milk so much, I suggest we make them drink at exclusively. Let’s see how long they last…

Don't worry, JFK Jr. Will be on the case soon!

Why do people buy raw milk? Does it have material benefits over pasteurized milk?
- Why do people buy raw milk?
  They're idiots. Some believe it's because pasteurized milk had added chemicals, which isn't correct, pasteurization is simply heat. But idiots will be idiots.
  For others it's the general anti-science/education bullshit going around now. The crossover with the anti-vax is nearly a circle it seems.
  
  "I'm going to buy the least healthy version of the least healthy kind of milk." —Folks concerned about their health
  I genuinely feel bad. It's like they're so close. Going out of your way to care about your health is good. Challenging broad societal assumptions is good. It's just that this completely fell apart when they arrived at the "now weigh the sources critically" stage. The charlatans who sold them this idea for profit should be in prison.
- It's got vibes. Pasteur was working for big pharma and he didn't want people to vibe out so hard.
  
  I remember reading a book that was illustrated kinda in the same style that "schoolhouse rock" was animated with, at least the "I'm just a bill, sitting here on capitol hill" song. Dunno about the rest of the series, never saw it.
  In this book they were telling the story about Louis Pasteur and his rabies vaccine, they mentioned pasteurization, but didn't go into how it worked. The book portrayed the vaccine in a ridiculously oversized syringe, and the vaccine inside was soldiers. Probably French legionaries, but I called them Blue Nutcrackers. That book made me understand at a kid level how vaccines work, and made me comfortable with getting them when I was 6. I wish I could remember what it was called, it really should be required reading.
  Edit: Found it! It is called "The Value of Believing In Yourself, The story of Louis Pasteur.
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A43eHlEaxPs
  That video the lady reads it, but if you fast forward to ≈11:00 she shows the ridiculous syringe.
  No clue why the book seems to be ≈ $85-$90 on eBay. Guess it's out of print.
- Idiot conservatives (and many 'crunchy' people who don't realize they are idiot conservatives) believe raw milk has more nutrients, that its better to be exposed to more harmful bacteria because that will build up your natural immunity, and can prevent you from developing asthma and allergies.
  But none of that is true.
  Raw milk has no more nutrients than pastuerized milk.
  The 'crowd exposure immunity' approach just results in needless deaths and suffering, little to no functional natural immunity increase as bacteria variants evolve too fast, as well as providing more vectors for viruses in birds and cows to jump into humans and then mutate to spread from human to human, a potential pandemic.
  And raw milk consumption has no effect on liklihood of developing, nor treating already existing asthma or allergies.
- It can have some benefits, but in most cases the risks outweigh the benefits. You can read more on https://www.health.com/raw-milk-vs-pasteurized-milk-8656536 where they have studies linked to back up the claims.
  For USA specially it's more of a way to stick it to the government than searching for any benefits.
- I've seen claims that it has more nutrients in it that are destroyed by pasteurization. There are also probiotics that would be destroyed by it. However, you can get these things elsewhere with less risk of contamination.
- They buy it because they are easily spooked by long words such as 'Pasteurization' and probably fell asleep during the class that talks about all of the diseases that the Pasteurization' process is supposed to prevent.
- It makes delicious cheese. Pasturisation kills bacteria and denatures enzymes that are helpful in making good cheese. After proper aging, it's safe to eat. Parmigiano Reggiano is made with unpasturised milk.

In Colorado, the big agricultural/ranching areas are the most reactionary. One cattle town, Greeley, even attempted to secede from the state over the barest COVID restrictions. Raw milk is a big culture war thing for them and the hippies who flocked to the most densely populated areas of the state. Luckily we live in the 21st century though and it's illegal for a commercial dairy to sell unpasteurised milk.
So anyways the dairies are owned by reactionaries who love selling raw milk to other reactionaries. Since it's legal to drink the raw milk of your family cow, the dairies circumvent food safety laws by selling a "share" of a "cow". That entitles you to X amount of raw milk per week. The cow is one of hundreds in an industrial dairy being fed chicken shit. The first human case from this current epidemic was a prisoner being used as slave labour to bury all the chickens at an infected farm.
It's so much filthier than any of the racist shit hogs said about Chinese wet markets. This is a wholly manmade horror perfectly within our comprehension purely being driven for profit. I hope it ends with crucifixions.
- In Colorado, the big agricultural/ranching areas are the most reactionary.
  is there anywhere in the western world where this isn't the case
  
  love 2 separate town and country with no consequences

It's a Good Thing Trump's Administration takes this REALLY SERIOUSLY!
- Biden is still the president
- I feel so confident in the people he's picking to lead the various departments, and in his entirely reasonable handling of the last pandemic - what could possibly go wrong?!

Not just because of bird flu one should not drink this.
- I saw raw milk being sold at the store and was interested in trying it out. I might have to visit again to see if it is indeed raw milk

Several years ago I had raw milk on a farm and it tasted incredible. I imagine that has more to do with the fact that that it gone from cow to mouth in about 30 second than with pasturization, right?
- No. The way milk get pasteurized is for speed and volume. They heat it up higher for a short amount of time to kill the baddies (and flavor). There is a slower process without as much heat and that saves some flavor, but big companies don't use it.

31 comments