There is no pus, feces, antibiotics, or blood in your milk. Period. All of these myths were started by vegan activists who have proven time and time again that the only way they can get people on their side is to lie. However, consumers do have a right to know about any risks their food might entail, and what relationship those risks have with production methods. For this reason, the fourth post in this Dairy Myths Series will be about contaminants in milk… or, more accurately, lack thereof. First of all, I want to start by saying that I will not cover antibiotics at this time because that will be a part of a much bigger post over the topic that will include antibiotics in meat products as well as milk, so stay tuned! Another point I want to make is that farmers have a vested interest in their products being safe and wholesome… that vested interest being their families consuming the products they produce. Although selling for profit is the ultimate goal, I’ve never met a farmer that wouldn’t willingly consume his or her own food or fiber.
Hormones
Yes, it’s true that there are hormones in your milk. Especially estrogen. But not so fast before you run off to PETA, wait and hear the whole story. This is not the result of added hormones being given to the animals—it’s naturally occurring. There is estrogen present in many common foods, not just meat, milk, and eggs, although it’s important to understand that the estrogen present in cow’s milk is chemically different from the estrogen present in plant foods. In plant-based sources, the chemical is called phytoestrogen, and it has actually been linked to many health risks if consumed in too large an amount (such as consuming concentrated items like soy or almonds every day to replace the nutrients found in animal products…). Keeping in mind the difference between naturally occurring estrogen in cow’s milk and phytoestrogen, check out this chart:
Source for chart: Ritchie, Harlan D. "Harlan Ritchie's Beef Research and Review." Harlan Ritchie's
Beef Research and Review. Michigan State University, 1995. Web. 15 Feb. 2017
Beef Research and Review. Michigan State University, 1995. Web. 15 Feb. 2017
Estrogen, including phytoestrogen to a point, has been linked to many positive health benefits in women including decreased risks of osteoporosis and breast cancer. There is a stigma that estrogen is bad for men, and many have even claimed that it’s linked to prostate cancer or infertility. However, an experiment conducted just last August by Elsevier Health Sciences concluded that “consumption of natural estrogens in cow's milk does not affect blood levels or reproductive health”. In January of 2012, another study published by NCBI concluded “that none of the commercial milk types [they] tested contained biologically significant estrogenic activity.” In fact, the healthy adult male has over 136,000 nanograms of estrogen present in their body at any given time, just like a female naturally produces testosterone, just in lower dosages. The bottom line is that naturally occurring hormones in dairy products is not something to be afraid of.
Pus and Blood
The myth that pus and blood is present in milk comes from misunderstanding of a condition caused mastitis. Mastitis is basically an infection of the utter which is extremely painful for the animal and, even if treated promptly, can cause long-term damage to the mammary glands and decreased yields for the farmers. When one female has it, if they are still milked, the milking equipment will be contaminated with the infection and it will quickly spread to the other cows behind her. In very extreme cases, this infection causes a hardening of the udder, which can completely cease milk collection until that animal is treated. For all of these reasons, as well as obvious humanitarian reasons, dairies go to great lengths to prevent mastitis from occurring.
However, in the vegan movement, it has been discovered that the USDA has a law allowing a certain amount of somatic cells per milliliter of milk shipped away from the dairy. This is true, and the exact number is 750,000 somatic cells/mL. However, somatic cells are not pus or blood cells. The dictionary definition is “any cell of a living organism other than the reproductive cells.” In the case of the dairy industry, this is hair or skin cells that are present in the raw milk supply, but will be removed during processing and pasteurization. Just like any mammal, cattle naturally shed hair and skin year round, and it’s very possible for these cells to find their way into the milk machines. This must be accounted for by the USDA and pasteurization methods—and is the reason for the somatic cell law.
Feces
In a last ditch effort to try and make cow’s milk seem as nasty as possible, vegans have spread the myth that there is manure in our milk supply. Not only is this not true, but a basic understanding of milking methods explains why this is not possible. The milk machine goes directly around the cow’s teats to collect the milk, and there is no room for milk to enter the milk line:
Photo from: http://www.old-engine.com/empire.ht
It’s definitely true that the outer material of the equipment can get nasty, and dairy sanitation is not only strictly maintained, but it is regulated and inspected by parent companies (if the dairy belongs to one—check out my post about factory farms for more information on what this means), the USDA, FDA, and any community or state officials depending on local laws. A common practice that dairies use to cut down on manure getting on equipment or even on workers is that of tail docking. However, this practice is very controversial on moral grounds, and will be explored more in my final post in this Dairy Myths Series.