The protest sprang from an FDA sting operation on Amish farmer Dan Allgyer's tiny dairy of three dozen cows in Kinzer, Pa., that culminated in a predawn raid on the farm last year. Allgyer had been selling milk to consumers in Maryland who had formed a buying club. None of Allgyer's milk was contaminated. His alleged crime was selling it across state lines.
Raw milk, also known as fresh or unpasteurized milk, comes straight from the cow. Pasteurization kills pathogens by cooking the milk at high temperature. Fresh milk fans say cooking also kills milk's flavor and nutrients. They contend that if similar rules were applied to other foods, sushi, raw oysters and most fresh fruits and vegetables would be banned.
The FDA considers unpasteurized milk unsafe because it is prone to contamination by cow manure, a predominant source of E. coli in food.
The agency has been waging a low-profile campaign to eliminate raw milk, despite rising demand from consumers. Raw milk is legal in California and 29 other states, while 20 states prohibit at least some sales. Raw milk is common throughout Europe, where it is considered essential to fine cheeses, creams and butters.
The FDA did not say anything about its campaign against interstate transport of fresh milk. In June, the agency's food safety chief, Michael Taylor, defended the FDA's actions against raw milk producers, saying, "We believe we're doing our job," and describing his agency's campaign against raw milk producers as "a public health duty." Taylor denied that the agency is spending too much time and money targeting boutique dairies.
"Our main issue is not to legalize something, but to decriminalize it," protester Reitzig said, arguing that the government has no business telling people what they are allowed to eat.
"We are taking a stand for civil rights," said Dennis Winstead, 72, of Silver Spring, Md. "Milk should be legal to drink and sell, not be controlled by the government. They are trying to drive people to large industrial farms that sell a filthy product."
Note: On the one hand a natural raw food, fresh, pure and with 50 nutrients. Or an industrial soup of chemicals, including steroids, vaccines, antibiotics, and GMO Bovine Growth hormone, not to mention the Distiller grains that dairy cattle are fed. Read More
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