Nasty milk

[Gliondrach]

I'm a bit puzzled by this. Is the first sentence meant to be ironic? But they do show that milk is not very appetising. As they say:


LOOK AWAY IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH

The vegan myth that cows' milk is allowed to contain up to 20% worth of pus was exploded when Corporate Watch contacted a helpful official at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Shaun Whelan, the senior press officer, was pretty sure that there was no pus allowed in milk, but checked anyway. When he came back he sounded rather sick. "As you thought" he confirmed in a subsequent email "there are limits for somatic cells in milk. Essentially, the level is set at less than or equal to 400,000 somatic cells per ml.". Somatic cells are pus cells, caused by teat infections from overmilking and poor conditions. So every millilitre of milk you drink can contain up to 400,000 pus cells. It's the right stuff!

http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=2417

[Bowwowmeow]

I guess the thinking goes that if a vegan says it, it must be lies and propaganda. :rolleyes:
Personally, I don't see the difference in revulsion between sucking pus out of an animal's sores, or sucking lactation out of their teats. They are equally wrong and disgusting.

[Gliondrach]

But are those 400,000 cells equal to 20 per cent? It's still a lot.

[Bowwowmeow]

You would have to figure out what the volume of 400,000 pus cells is, and compare it to a milliliter. There are roughly twelve drops of pure water in a milliliter, so if 400,000 pus cells would occupy the same volume as 2.4 drops of water, that would be twenty percent. I just don't know how big pus cells are, and what sort of volume 400.000 of them would occupy.

It does seem like an awful lot of pus, poor things. But it is an upper limit, meaning that it could contain no more than that, or less to none. I hope for the sake of the cows they aren't suffering from enough harm to produce that much pus, or worse, that lots of cow milk contains more than the legal limit for human consumption, and gets sold for other purposes, like lactose or whey extraction for use in non-food items.

What a world we live in. :(

[Gliondrach]

I found out a bit more about the amount of pus (measured in somatic cell counts) in milk. Here's an extract from a report :

Milk Quality - A Worldwide Perspective

K. Larry Smith and J. S. Hogan
The Ohio State University
Wooster, Ohio

Milk somatic cell counts are an issue in the international trade of milk and milk products and this was a major issue between the U.S. and the E.U. in the spring of 1997. The problem is that the U.S. has the highest upper limit for SCC (750,000 cells/ml) of all the major developed dairy producing countries of the world. The E.U., New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Norway all accept 400,000 SCC as the upper limit and New Zealand may consider adopting 300,000 cells/ml in the future. Canada has now agreed on 500,000 SCC throughout all of the provinces and is already investigating the possibility of going to 400,000 cells/ml. This clearly leaves the U.S. in an unenviable position in the international market place of having to defend the concept that U.S. dairy products are as safe and as high quality as products from any other country. The U.S. media often states that U.S. dairy products are the safest in the world. Where is the proof of this statement? The U.S. position is that SCC are an issue of quality but not safety. This view is not shared by the E.U. due to the broader view and interpretation of "hygienic requirements" (5,6,7).

We would all agree that somatic cells present in milk are not a risk factor for human safety but the somatic cell count is a measure that might reflect health issues. Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland and SCC are the most universally accepted measure of that inflammation. Almost all mammary gland inflammation is caused by the presence of a microorganism (an intramammary infection). Most mastitis research workers would agree that uninfected cows will have SCC less than 200,000 cells/ml and that SCC someplace between 200,000 cells/ml and 300,000 cells/ml are indicative that the cow is infected (16). SCC are clearly associated with quality (16,19). Diminished cheese yields have been reported as SCC increase from 100,000 cells/ml to 500,000 cells/ml and significant quality effects may be noted at SCC as low as 250,000 cells/ml. Bulk milk SCC have three broad uses. They are used to monitor the prevalence of mastitis in dairy herds; as an indicator of raw milk quality to processors; and as a more general indicator of the hygienic conditions of milk production on farms. Regulators in the U.S. seem not to be accept SCC as a general indicator of hygienic conditions on farms.

Full report here:
ht tp://ww w.nmconline.org/articles/keynote98.htm

[Bowwowmeow]

Are these somatic cells spent white blood cells, as are killed when fighting an infection? If I recall, white blood cells are much larger than red ones, for example, so would occupy greater volume, meaning that it would take fewer white cells to occupy the same volumetric space than red ones. And I believe there is also a certain percentage of blood allowed in cow milk too, because they can't keep it out when those horrid machines are being used.

[Tails4wagging]

I'm glad DEFRA spokesman has found out the truth. I wonder where he got the info from?

[Gliondrach]

Are these somatic cells spent white blood cells.

Yes.

[Gliondrach]

I'm glad DEFRA spokesman has found out the truth. I wonder where he got the info from?

Probably from the codex alimentarius and WHO sources.

[Soynut]

Personally, I don't see the difference in revulsion between sucking pus out of an animal's sores, or sucking lactation out of their teats. They are equally wrong and disgusting.


Agree. I've never understood the difference between eating intestines, feet or wings. Whatever someone eats a ceasar chicken salad or Swedish blood pudding in front makes absolutely no difference. It's all super gross with no shades of grey. A relative of mine got grossed out when I told her that rennet in cheese is basically made of a calf's stomach. She's a meat eater, why does it matter to her?...