Raw milk on trial in Ontario, court could permanently shut down sales

It’s shocking to think that in some parts of the world GMO food and alcohol are legal, yet raw milk – a natural, nutritious food consumed by humans around the globe for centuries – is illegal. In recent years, raw milk has received a bad reputation due to several cases of foodborne illnesses.

Though extra care is needed when handling raw milk, why is it that they ban raw milk while modern, conventional agricultural systems linked to a host of illnesses have not resulted in the banning of these Frankenfoods? There is only one answer to that question: We are being controlled by the government and powerful monopolies that put profits before people.

Since raw milk cannot easily be commercialized or distributed, the dairy industry doesn’t want to see its popularity grow any further. Raw milk is usually produced by small family farms. Can you see why Big Dairy has been fighting to make this natural product illegal? They can’t get a piece of the pie. For years, the dairy industry has sent out highly paid lobbyists to twist the arms of money-greedy policy makers to unjustly terrorize family farms that are successful addressing the increased demand for unprocessed, fresh milk.

An increasing number of people want to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced. That’s something we at Natural News can only applaud. Yet the dairy industry, backed up by the government, seem to be on a different page.

Canadian farmer fights for raw milk

Since 1981, the sale of raw milk has been banned by the Canadian government out of fear of possible Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria contaminations. Ontario has taken it a step further by restricting people from giving away raw milk for free. Outlawing raw milk, however, hasn’t stopped one farmer from providing this age-old nutritious food to the people.

According to Modern Farmer, raw milk outlaw Michael Schmidt has been in and out the Canadian Province Court of Ontario over the past couple of decades. His crime? The production and distribution of raw, unpasteurized milk. Given the fact that raw milk is illegal in Canada, Schmidt’s co-op has been operating without a license, thus violating the Canadian Milk Act. For nearly 25 years, Schmidt has been fighting to keep the raw milk flowing freely.

Though Schmidt wants to see raw milk legalized, he’s not even fighting for the outright legalization of raw milk in Canada. He just wants to give the people the freedom to make their own informed decisions with their own cow.

“It’s a total police state when it comes to raw milk here because there’s absolutely no leniency on any level,” he told Modern Farmer. “They are saying it’s the most dangerous substance you can think of and should never be allowed. There’s not even a proper scientific debate about it. It’s all on an emotional, fear-based level.”

In one of the latest court battles, Schmidt took up his claims against the Crown. Any day now, an Ontario judge could rule a permanent injunction against Schmidt’s co-op, prohibiting both the sale and purchase of raw milk, Food Safety News reported. If the judge rules against his case, then the distribution and probably the consumption of raw milk will be seen as a criminal act.

If Schmidt loses this case, all legal and court costs, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, could immediately fall upon him and his co-op members. Payments by others will not be permitted, Food Safety News noted.

Mark McAfee, the owner of Organic Pastures in California, where sales of organic milk are legal at retail locations, said, “sometimes it takes a big ugly incident to make enough ugly news to create change.” (Related: Track news headlines about food freedom at FoodFreedom.news.)

Let’s us hope that after 25 years of constant fighting with the nanny state, Schmidt will be able to bring raw milk to the people legally.

Sources:

FoodSafetyNews.com

ModernFarmer.com

Food safety continues to plummet: Frozen hash browns recalled due to contamination by golf balls

ust last April 21, frozen potato products manufacturer McCain Foods USA, Inc. issued a voluntary recall of their frozen hash brown products due to contamination with “extraneous golf ball materials”. According to FoodSafetyNews.com, the recalled products are Roundy’s Brand, two-pound “Bag of Frozen Southern Style Hash Browns” (UPC 001115055019) and Harris Teeter Brand, two-pound “Bag of Frozen Southern Style Hash Browns” (UPC 007203649020). The manufacturing date for the recalled products is January 19, 2017; the production code date on the back of the packaging is B170119, the company announced through FDA.gov.

More recently, the company expanded on the voluntary recall of their products. Their Wegman’s Brand 28-ounce “Bag of Frozen O’Brien Hash Browns” (UPC 07789036523) has been added to the list. The manufacturing date for this line of products is October 21, 2016, with the production code of B161021.

Illinois and Wisconsin supermarkets Pick ‘n Save, Marianos, and Metro Market have been noted as distributors of the Roundy’s Brand products. The Harris Teeter Brand products were disseminated in the states of Virginia, Florida, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. The Wegman’s Brand products were distributed in the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maryland.

Consumers who have purchased these products have been advised to throw them out or return them to the store where they were purchased. No injuries associated with the consumption of the golf ball-contaminated frozen hash browns have been reported so far. However, complaints have begun coming in from consumers who have discovered hard rubber or plastic pieces in their frozen hash browns.

The company stated in their recall notice: “Despite our stringent supply standards [the golf balls] may have been inadvertently harvested with potatoes used to make this product. Consumption of these products may pose a choking hazard or other physical injury to the mouth.”

In a statement to CNET.com, a spokesman for McCain Foods USA further elaborated with: “We believe the cause might be that the field where the potatoes were harvested was adjacent to a golf course.”

McCain Foods USA is a subsidiary of the Canadian multi-national McCain Foods Limited. According to PotatoPro.com, McCain Foods is the world’s biggest manufacturer of frozen potato specialties. Additionally, the company operates over 50 production facilities across six continents. It’s highly probable that the golf balls could have originated from at least any one of these production facilities.

The manufacturer is not the first nor the only company to have recalled their food products. On the site FoodSafety.gov, one can view a list of recent recalls that is continuously updated as companies in the United States send out recall notices for a variety of reasons. The majority of the notices submitted by companies to the FDA claim “possible health risks” as the explanation behind their recalls. (Related: America’s Food Safety System on Verge of Breakdown, Warns Report)

Rest assured, McCain Foods USA won’t be the last to do this. The agencies that are supposed to be protecting the people and preventing situations like this from happening are not doing their jobs. This is why it’s up to the consumers to take care of themselves. Remember to be careful of what and where you buy your food. Vigilance is key to staying safe in a world where eating frozen hash browns could lead to you accidentally ingesting pieces of golf balls.

Learn more about other news on foods by visiting FoodSupply.news.

Sources include:

FoodSafetyNews.com

FDA.gov

PotatoPro.com 1

PotatoPro.com 2

CNET.com

FoodSafety.gov