The dairy industry will have you believe that the
antibiotics in cow's milk are within "safe" levels
established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Yet, on Tuesday, January 18, 2011, FDA quietly announced
that 1,800 dairy farms have tested positive for illegal
levels of antibiotics in milk, and that they will soon
begin random testing of 900 of those dairies. See:
http://www.dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=13115&news_id=29460&ts=nl2
What FDA has not told the public is that during the approval
process for Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine
growth hormone (rbGH), regulators were aware that rbGH-treated
cows were getting sick and required more antibiotics,
so Monsanto had their top scientist (Margaret Miller)
transferred to FDA where she arbitrarily increased the
allowable level of antibiotics in milk by 100 times!
I discovered the evidence twelve years ago:
http://notmilk.com/deb/021499.txt
On Monday (January 17, 2011), the federal government
filed suit against an 850 cow dairy farm for using
excess amounts of antibiotics. That story appears
at the conclusion of today's column.
It takes twelve pounds of milk to manufacture
one pound of ice cream. Concentrated drug-filled
milk with the addition of sugar. America's
most popular food. The most common antibiotic
found in slaughtered dairy cows is LS-50.
Nine years ago (February 7, 2002), Notmilk reported:
LS-50 is an antibiotic made up of two other antibiotics,
Lincomycin and Spectinomycin.
Dairy farmers use LS-50 to treat a condition called
footwarts. Very unpleasant. Very illegal.
The category of mycins that include LS-50 carry
serious warnings regarding their use. FDA works with
a manual called the "Green Book."
Remembering that LS-50 is composed of Lincomycin
and Spectinomycin, I first looked up the files on
every single variation of Lincomycin approved by
the FDA. There are actually 49 different antibiotic
drugs permitted for animal use. Without exception,
each and every one of those drugs has been approved
for either chickens or swine weighing under 250 pounds.
None have been approved for cattle or dairy cows.
There are 21 different manufacturers listed for the
49 different drugs. One name stands out, owning 18
of those 49, Pharmacia-Upjohn. Pharmacia-Upjohn is
owned my Monsanto.
The second category of drugs were the Spectinomycins.
There were just ten of these, and Pharmacia-Upjohn/Monsanto
owned three of them.
There on the list was LS-50, and here is the warning for
use of LS-50, as written in FDA's Green Book:
"Species: chicken up to seven days old. Limitations:
can be used in cattle, calves excluding veal calves,
dairy cows excluding female breeding age animals.
Do not use in female dairy cattle 20 months of age
or older. Use in this class of cattle may cause
residues in milk. Federal law restricts this drug to
use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian."
* * * * * * *
Wash. Dairy Cows Had Unlawful Drug Residues
By Gene Johnson
Associated Press
January 17, 2011
"SEATTLE -- Federal authorities have sued a northwest
Washington dairy that they claim has a long history
of selling cows for slaughter even though their
tissues contained drug residues deemed unsafe to eat.
"The 850-cow Rhody Dairy LLC of Sumas was charged civilly
in U.S. District Court in Seattle this week with violations
of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
"The complaint says that seven times in the past decade,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued letters to
the dairy warning that cows it offered for sale tested
positive for illegal levels of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory
medications or other drugs.
"The Justice Department said that despite the warnings,
the dairy administered the drugs to its cattle in
unapproved dosages or without prescriptions, or that it
failed to observe proper drug withdrawal times before
offering the cows for slaughter. They also say the dairy
refused to keep treatment records for the animals."
* * * * * * *
Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.Twitter.com/TheRealNotmilk
