Do you think milk is safe?

angiechimpanzee

Milk is not safe. Studies show the cassein is linked to cancer in animals as well as all the other problems. But it's also very difficult to eliminate milk from the diet. I do Soy and Almond milk, but I still have cheese and other dairy occasionally. I suppose that's better than nothing. Want to know who came up with the idea that we should drink milk everyday and give it to our children? Housewives in the 1950s. Milk does NOT do a body good.

^^^^

I've just read so much about how unsanitary milk-producing factories are, how the cows are treated, the whole process is just gross, then on top of that the studies that shows it contributes to osteoperosis. I just don't drink it anymore, but I have cheese now and then.

WendyTerry420

Milk is very dangerous for you.

A carton of milk once attacked me with a baseball bat. I had to defend myself with a packet of chocolate chip cookies. True story.

It`s awful when milk goes bad...

etoiles_argentees

Milk is very dangerous for you.

A carton of milk once attacked me with a baseball bat. I had to defend myself with a packet of chocolate chip cookies. True story.

just throw cats at it, no need to waste cookies.

TheRealParisLove

People have been drinking milk and dairy for thousands of years. I'm sure milk is as safe as any other food product you can buy at the grocery store. It is undoubtedly more safe than many highly processed foods like Cool-whip or soft drinks.

radioonemike

If the question is, is milk safe? That answer is yes.
If the question is, should we drink milk because it's 'healthy' or does milk have any detrimental effects? That's a whole other ball park.

I have experience in this because I used to test milk in a dairy for several years.

I'll run through some issues...

1) Antibiotics: They are usually given to steers to help growth and proactively guard against unsanitary conditions. Dairy cows only get antibiotics when they develop mastitis (infection/inflammation) of the udders. They usually are taken off the runs for a period of two weeks. All dairies test for antibiotics when a milk tanker comes in to be processed. If antibiotics are detected the whole tanker, unless it is a split with whole and skim, is rejected. You can be reasonably sure your milk is antibiotic free.

2) Hormones: They are also used the same as antibiotics for steers. Dairy cows could get this for the same reason. But most dairies have their farmer's pledge not use them. Milk cows are way more valuable than steers, so the short term gain probably is not worth it. Complicating the matter is that it is prohibitively expensive to test every run/tanker/cow for hormones. So your milk being free from hormones is as good as the farmer's making the pledge. You might be better drinking organic certified milk, if your state has their own organic standards; or if they follow stricter state standards like California's instead of the USDA standards.

3) Healthiness: Milk is a good source of protein, and if you drink reduced fat versions it is even better for you. Whole milk is 3.25% fat content, so while people say-- "Yes, but it has more saturated fat than two strips of bacon"; it is not a large amount. I personally think the issue is overeating. Our parents and grandparents grew up drinking whole milk when the obesity issue was nil. If you're drink a glass of whole milk and eating a sleeve of Oreo's or Chips Ahoy!. I think your issue is the cookies not the milk. But nowadays, my kid's pediatrician recommends them drinking lower fat milk.

4) Intolerance: People (as a whole) lose their ability to digest lactose at different points. This is dependent on your culture and your diet.

5) Diseases: There have really been no large, double-blind experiments or epidemiological studies of cow milk (be it antibiotic or hormone treated) being linked to cancer or auto-immune diseases. This is not to say, it doesn't; but just simply that no one has yet designed, vetted and executed such a studies. Most 'studies'/'facts' tend to be of the Kevin Trudeau ilk. There are some studies by reputable universities suggesting that eating red meat may have some links with certain kind of cancers-- but more study is needed.

6) Safety: Every dairy has a laboratory that tests for the quality and safety of milk. Testing includes: flavor, freezing point, %fat/%protein/%solids, presence of antibiotics, aerobic plate count, coliform plate count -- that's just for the tankers coming in to be processed. Tankers can be rejected for antibiotics and taste. All those tests (except antibiotics) are performed from line pulls usually occurring every hour. Additionally, on the final product, a shelf-life test is performed. Pulled product is stored cold and tested again at expy-date for bacteria and most of the other quality tests.

Personally, I drink cow's milk. I also like soy and rice milk as well. I especially enjoy almond milk.

WendyTerry420

Live how you'd like, food doesn't scare me.

then why are you on MFP? just curious.

My FITNESS pal?

So, MFP is only for people who are scared of food? :huh:

slkehl

@radioonemike: that is an excellent summary! I am quoting you in my blog

Here's something SueGremlin wrote a while back:

"Cows have been genetically SELECTED to produce 100+ lbs of milk per cow per day, give or take depending on the breed and quality of said cow. That is without hormones. You are attempting to give the impression that a cow will go from producing 10 lbs of milk a day to 100 from an injection? No. Not even a little true.

When you inject a cow with rBST, she will produce 11-16% more milk than they normally would. Not all cows are treated with rBST, either. Something like 20% of dairies use this hormone.

It is impossible to detect the difference between cows that are treated with rBST and those who are not because there is no difference in the levels of this hormone from cows that are untreated, they produce their own naturally. Read labels. They are carefully worded and do not say "rBST-free milk" because that is not true.

Cows that are treated with antibiotics for mastitis have ALL of their milk WITHHELD from consumption until there are no detectable levels of antibiotics in the milk. There is a positive correlation between cows that produce more milk and the incidence of mastitis, which is a bacterial infection in the udder. Most cows don't have this, and farmers do everything they can to keep the udders of their cows healthy. Farmers who violate this and let antibiotics into their bulk tanks would be penalized very very heavily for it, so they don't do it.

Milk is a very clean food. That is a fact."

Sarauk2sf

Milk is not safe. Studies show the cassein is linked to cancer in animals as well as all the other problems. But it's also very difficult to eliminate milk from the diet. I do Soy and Almond milk, but I still have cheese and other dairy occasionally. I suppose that's better than nothing. Want to know who came up with the idea that we should drink milk everyday and give it to our children? Housewives in the 1950s. Milk does NOT do a body good.

^^^^

I've just read so much about how unsanitary milk-producing factories are, how the cows are treated, the whole process is just gross, then on top of that the studies that shows it contributes to osteoperosis. I just don't drink it anymore, but I have cheese now and then.

I keep asking for these studies - I have yet to see one.

ReinasWrath

Basically any food can allegedly give you cancer. -_-

DrBorkBork

I don't trust milk that is commercially available, but I do trust raw milk from local farmers that treat & feed their animals right. Reach out to your local farmer!

SarahCW1979

Milk is very dangerous for you.

A carton of milk once attacked me with a baseball bat. I had to defend myself with a packet of chocolate chip cookies. True story.

just throw cats at it, no need to waste cookies.

Dont forget, the cats MUST have a thigh gap

saltedcaramel86

Scaremongering!

I consume milk (and basically most forms of dairy) on a daily basis. Doesn't do me any harm. I do, however, only consume organic dairy whenever possible for ethical reasons.

If we believed everything we read about dangers of cancer, we'd be too afraid to get out of bed in the morning,

manderson27

If the question is, is milk safe? That answer is yes.
If the question is, should we drink milk because it's 'healthy' or does milk have any detrimental effects? That's a whole other ball park.

I have experience in this because I used to test milk in a dairy for several years.

I'll run through some issues...

1) Antibiotics: They are usually given to steers to help growth and proactively guard against unsanitary conditions. Dairy cows only get antibiotics when they develop mastitis (infection/inflammation) of the udders. They usually are taken off the runs for a period of two weeks. All dairies test for antibiotics when a milk tanker comes in to be processed. If antibiotics are detected the whole tanker, unless it is a split with whole and skim, is rejected. You can be reasonably sure your milk is antibiotic free.

2) Hormones: They are also used the same as antibiotics for steers. Dairy cows could get this for the same reason. But most dairies have their farmer's pledge not use them. Milk cows are way more valuable than steers, so the short term gain probably is not worth it. Complicating the matter is that it is prohibitively expensive to test every run/tanker/cow for hormones. So your milk being free from hormones is as good as the farmer's making the pledge. You might be better drinking organic certified milk, if your state has their own organic standards; or if they follow stricter state standards like California's instead of the USDA standards.

3) Healthiness: Milk is a good source of protein, and if you drink reduced fat versions it is even better for you. Whole milk is 3.25% fat content, so while people say-- "Yes, but it has more saturated fat than two strips of bacon"; it is not a large amount. I personally think the issue is overeating. Our parents and grandparents grew up drinking whole milk when the obesity issue was nil. If you're drink a glass of whole milk and eating a sleeve of Oreo's or Chips Ahoy!. I think your issue is the cookies not the milk. But nowadays, my kid's pediatrician recommends them drinking lower fat milk.

4) Intolerance: People (as a whole) lose their ability to digest lactose at different points. This is dependent on your culture and your diet.

5) Diseases: There have really been no large, double-blind experiments or epidemiological studies of cow milk (be it antibiotic or hormone treated) being linked to cancer or auto-immune diseases. This is not to say, it doesn't; but just simply that no one has yet designed, vetted and executed such a studies. Most 'studies'/'facts' tend to be of the Kevin Trudeau ilk. There are some studies by reputable universities suggesting that eating red meat may have some links with certain kind of cancers-- but more study is needed.

6) Safety: Every dairy has a laboratory that tests for the quality and safety of milk. Testing includes: flavor, freezing point, %fat/%protein/%solids, presence of antibiotics, aerobic plate count, coliform plate count -- that's just for the tankers coming in to be processed. Tankers can be rejected for antibiotics and taste. All those tests (except antibiotics) are performed from line pulls usually occurring every hour. Additionally, on the final product, a shelf-life test is performed. Pulled product is stored cold and tested again at expy-date for bacteria and most of the other quality tests.

Personally, I drink cow's milk. I also like soy and rice milk as well. I especially enjoy almond milk.

Ah the voice of reason, backed up by knowledge, a joy to read, thank you.:flowerforyou:

etoiles_argentees

Milk is very dangerous for you.

A carton of milk once attacked me with a baseball bat. I had to defend myself with a packet of chocolate chip cookies. True story.

just throw cats at it, no need to waste cookies.

Dont forget, the cats MUST have a thigh gap

Oh but they do!

AnnaMaus

I don't drink it.

The work of Ganmaa Davaasambuu's team at Harvard is worth a look. It compares the levels of estrogen and progesterone in industrially produced cow milk with that of cow milk in herding societies in Mongolia.

Even without rBGH, when the animals are kept pregnant and milked almost every day of the year, the risks change. The estrogen and progesterone in the milk of a pregnant cow is hundreds of times higher than the milk of a non-pregnant cow.

quiksandy

If the question is, is milk safe? That answer is yes.
If the question is, should we drink milk because it's 'healthy' or does milk have any detrimental effects? That's a whole other ball park.

I have experience in this because I used to test milk in a dairy for several years.

I'll run through some issues...

1) Antibiotics: They are usually given to steers to help growth and proactively guard against unsanitary conditions. Dairy cows only get antibiotics when they develop mastitis (infection/inflammation) of the udders. They usually are taken off the runs for a period of two weeks. All dairies test for antibiotics when a milk tanker comes in to be processed. If antibiotics are detected the whole tanker, unless it is a split with whole and skim, is rejected. You can be reasonably sure your milk is antibiotic free.

2) Hormones: They are also used the same as antibiotics for steers. Dairy cows could get this for the same reason. But most dairies have their farmer's pledge not use them. Milk cows are way more valuable than steers, so the short term gain probably is not worth it. Complicating the matter is that it is prohibitively expensive to test every run/tanker/cow for hormones. So your milk being free from hormones is as good as the farmer's making the pledge. You might be better drinking organic certified milk, if your state has their own organic standards; or if they follow stricter state standards like California's instead of the USDA standards.

3) Healthiness: Milk is a good source of protein, and if you drink reduced fat versions it is even better for you. Whole milk is 3.25% fat content, so while people say-- "Yes, but it has more saturated fat than two strips of bacon"; it is not a large amount. I personally think the issue is overeating. Our parents and grandparents grew up drinking whole milk when the obesity issue was nil. If you're drink a glass of whole milk and eating a sleeve of Oreo's or Chips Ahoy!. I think your issue is the cookies not the milk. But nowadays, my kid's pediatrician recommends them drinking lower fat milk.

4) Intolerance: People (as a whole) lose their ability to digest lactose at different points. This is dependent on your culture and your diet.

5) Diseases: There have really been no large, double-blind experiments or epidemiological studies of cow milk (be it antibiotic or hormone treated) being linked to cancer or auto-immune diseases. This is not to say, it doesn't; but just simply that no one has yet designed, vetted and executed such a studies. Most 'studies'/'facts' tend to be of the Kevin Trudeau ilk. There are some studies by reputable universities suggesting that eating red meat may have some links with certain kind of cancers-- but more study is needed.

6) Safety: Every dairy has a laboratory that tests for the quality and safety of milk. Testing includes: flavor, freezing point, %fat/%protein/%solids, presence of antibiotics, aerobic plate count, coliform plate count -- that's just for the tankers coming in to be processed. Tankers can be rejected for antibiotics and taste. All those tests (except antibiotics) are performed from line pulls usually occurring every hour. Additionally, on the final product, a shelf-life test is performed. Pulled product is stored cold and tested again at expy-date for bacteria and most of the other quality tests.

Personally, I drink cow's milk. I also like soy and rice milk as well. I especially enjoy almond milk.

Wow...great information. Thank you.

SarahCW1979

Milk is very dangerous for you.

A carton of milk once attacked me with a baseball bat. I had to defend myself with a packet of chocolate chip cookies. True story.

just throw cats at it, no need to waste cookies.

Dont forget, the cats MUST have a thigh gap

Oh but they do!

Ok then... carry on

They do make good weapons in all honesty, I remember chucking one at my brother in the middle of a fight... I won

HeidiHoMom

"Humans are the only species that drink another species milk"

Humans are also the only species to use computers, drive cars, talk, grow crops etc.

Also, since we started eating things like wheat and dairy our life expectancy has gone up, not down.

Sarauk2sf

I don't drink it.

The work of Ganmaa Davaasambuu's team at Harvard is worth a look. It compares the levels of estrogen and progesterone in industrially produced cow milk with that of cow milk in herding societies in Mongolia.

Even without rBGH, when the animals are kept pregnant and milked almost every day of the year, the risks change. The estrogen and progesterone in the milk of a pregnant cow is hundreds of times higher than the milk of a non-pregnant cow.

Interesting work. However, from what I can tell there is some correlation but this is admitted to be circumstantial. The actual risks noted from studies were on rats. Also, the studies on the correlation show a possible correlation with full fat milk and none with skim.

WendyTerry420

Live how you'd like, food doesn't scare me.

then why are you on MFP? just curious.

My FITNESS pal?

So, MFP is only for people who are scared of food? :huh:

Ohhhhhh.....no. You REALLY don't want to get into it with me...sorry, but you don't.

I'm not trying to get into anything, just to understand the post. This wasn't directed at you anyway. It was directed at GreyEyes21. Try reading it again.

And for the record, I'm not scared of food either. Neither am I afraid of someone with such a dire internet warning such as yours. Also, I have re-quoted you *twice* in this thread, agreeing with you. You should be careful before jumping to conclusions.