Why can we sell tobacco products but not ‘raw’ milk?

Seldom, if ever, have we seen Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Greg Sorbara as far apart on an issue as they were on the subject of Ontario’s longstanding ban on sales of “raw” (unpasteurized) milk.

As a Grey county dairy farmer continued his hunger strike, begun after he was charged with distributing raw milk, Sorbara suggested the province should consider legalizing such sales. But McGuinty firmly rejected the idea, citing public health concerns, and the Ministry of Health issued a strong public warning that “unpasteurized milk poses a great health risk.”

Sorbara’s wife, Katie, is one of about 150 Ontario residents who own a share in the cows at the centre of the controversy. Michael Schmidt, the farmer raided and charged with distributing raw milk illegally, has said they paid roughly $300 each to join his “cow-share” program. That’s in addition to the $2.50 a litre he charges them for his labour in running the farm and delivering the milk weekly to a Thornhill plaza in a former school bus.

Selling milk that has not been pasteurized —heated to 63C for 30 minutes to kill pathogens — has been illegal in Ontario since 1938. But you can drink it raw if you own the cow.

Sorbara, when questioned outside the Legislature about his personal interest in the issue, would not say whether he or his wife drink Schmidt’s milk. But he had “long been a proponent for a safe, effective, highly regulated system of distributing raw milk,” something he said is now found in “30 U.S. jurisdictions and a number of European jurisdictions.”

Meanwhile, Progressive Conservative MPP Bill Murdoch (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) is tabling a private member’s bill that calls for a three-party task force to investigate whether raw milk sales might be legalized.

Although Sorbara said he would support the bill, the premier indicated he wouldn’t, telling reporters: “This is no longer a matter of debate. It’s a fact. So why are they going to debate again?’

Without a doubt, pasteurized milk is and always has been safer than raw milk, whose devotees contend only that it’s an organic product that’s reasonably safe and tastes better. Among the questions that need answering:

 How are such sales currently regulated?

 In jurisdictions where raw milk can be sold legally, what is its market share, and is it increasing or decreasing?

 Have regulations been shown capable of significantly reducing the risks of E. coli infections from raw milk?

 Are there techniques other than pasteurization (such as perhaps ultraviolet light) that will kill bacteria in raw milk?

Interestingly, although health officials have pointed out that for every person known to fall ill from drinking raw milk, another 10 to 15 cases are believed to go unreported, there was no disclosure of any illness among the 150 “co-owners” of Schmidt cows.

Schmidt, who says drinking raw milk makes him “feel good,” has been limiting himself to water and one glass of the milk a day. He says he will continue his strike until equipment confiscated in a raid on his farm is returned, other damages paid for, and complaints against him are resolved in court or Parliament.

The maverick dairy farmer has openly provided raw milk to hundreds of families for more than a decade since his last brush with the law He now stands charged with operating a milk plant without a licence.

The November raid came 11 years after he switched from selling milk outright to a shareholder system designed to circumvent the Ontario law.

Our best answer to those who question the need to debate the existing law comes in the form of a question: Why should it be legal to sell tobacco products but not raw milk?

In the case of tobacco, it’s a narcotic that’s a known killer, but the only restrictions are on promotions and on sales to minors. Thus far, no government has gone so far as to ban tobacco sales, and all governments seemingly enjoy their ability to tax tobacco products.

Our suspicion is that risks to human health from raw milk could be reduced almost to the vanishing point through tough regulations, including regular inspection of the farms where it is produced; sterilization of all equipment used in its production and sale; constant refrigeration (including during shipment to market); appropriate consumer labelling, including “best before” dates, and public education on the potential health risks.

Schmidt put it this way: “The whole battle, which started with the simple fact that people wanted unaltered milk, turned into the question ‘Are people able to be responsible for their own informed decision they make?’”

We think they ought to be.