SUGGESTED BRIEFING SUMMARY FOR HEALTH
CANADA
prepared by
The Natural Milk Coalition of Canada
On March 19, 2003 we received a submission from the Natural Milk Coalition of Canada, a consumer lobby group, asking for the legalization of the sale of raw milk for consumers. The present law permits only dairy animal owners to drink raw milk. This coalition has a website to promote their cause, www.raw-milk.com and their president has appeared on CTV national news, which can be seen from their website.
They justify their request by presenting evidence that raw (natural) milk is healthier because they claim pasteurization causes the following:
reduction of vitamins
reduced absorption of calcium
denaturation of proteins
destruction of enzymes
destruction of anti-microbial factors
They argue that raw milk has three categories and not just one
raw milk for processing
certified raw milk for drinking
uncertified raw milk for drinking
with “certified” meaning a government inspection and testing system to certify safety.
They argue that each of these categories of raw milk has different safety issues and therefore separate policies need to be considered and developed.
i) Raw milk for processing presently relies on pasteurization to ensure safety, and should therefore never be drunk raw. They argue that over time, farming methods came to take advantage of the catchall safety net provided by pasteurization and thereby migrated to higher production levels. As a result, the safety of raw milk for direct consumption was ignored and compromised.
ii) Certified raw milk can be distributed either as retail products or limited to direct sales between farmers and consumers. A policy decision would have to be made whether this is to be instituted and whether retail or direct. There are several examples from other jurisdictions, e.g. Massachusetts for retail sales and Britain for direct sales. The lobbyists use Charter right to life arguments for a healthier product.
iii) They argue that uncertified raw milk has been shown to be safe only for educated consumers, such as farmers and their families, who frequently consume their own milk raw, but which technically is illegal distribution, un-enforced for the most part. Dr. Joost Harwig, former Director, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, presented Senate Committee evidence that this was 1% of all fluid milk consumed, i.e. approximately 250,000 Canadians. The lobbyists use Charter discrimination arguments to demand access to farmers’ uncertified raw milk and claim discrimination exists in banning all raw milk sales when only uneducated raw milk consumers need protection, which can be accomplished through public education programs and by implementing the certified delivery system.
The lobbyists also claim that the Food and Drugs Act has been drafted incorrectly with respect to RFAO’s and liquor and that their sale is presently illegal under the strict wording of the Act, which bans the sale of all foods that are hazardous or harmful, which these are. They have told us that before they would go to court to legalize the sale of raw milk, they would expose this aspect, and force us to define in law how these hazardous products can be sold in apparent violation of the law. This would smooth their way and make it an easier court challenge to secure raw milk sales.