Comments on: Milk debate is about safety, not choice

By: Owen

Owen — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:54:25 +0000

Bernie, thanks for your message. I’m originally from Mitchell’s Bay, a village about the size of this text box, so I’m all in favour of county dairies. In fact, if county dairies were processing the milk in question, I’d feel much more secure about it. It’s the unavoidable proximity of livestock to the raw milk and the on-farm handling that concerns me.

By: Bernie Bailey

Bernie Bailey — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:45:30 +0000

Owen
As the owner of the last legal processing dairy in south western Ontario I have to differ with your column. It is about choice and you have three choices for pasteurized milk across Ontario. If it were safety the government of the day would have stopped the corrupted bureaucrats from closing all the country dairies in favor of the big three. The closer the legal processing plant is to the milk source the less chance of contamination. Google the bovine and search Bernie Bailey if you want the true story of the milk industry, yes I know that is the raw milk sight but they seem to be the only media not afraid of government reprisal of my remarks and story.
Still one vote
Bernie

By: Owen Roberts

Owen Roberts — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:01:59 +0000

Thanks Greg and Phil. I appreciate the information and the feedback.

By: Phil Emmott

Phil Emmott — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:55:25 +0000

Very well rounded article Owen. If it is not the government’s job to protect us then why do we have any laws at all?

By: Greg Clow

Greg Clow — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:07:43 +0000

Setting aside the raw milk debate for a moment, I’d like to point out a factual inaccuracy in your Guelph Mercury column.

You say: “The province decided a couple of years ago it’s too risky for restaurants to offer fish raw, which is traditionally the way sushi is served. Some intervention was needed, said officials, to stem bacteria growth and kill parasites. The solution? Freeze fish before serving it raw. So now, sushi in Ontario is previously frozen. No one’s rights are being violated. Rather, their safety is being secured. And it tastes fine.”

In fact, while legislation was implemented briefly that forced all sushi fish to be previously frozen in order to kill one particular parasite, push-back from the industry along with evidence that the parasite in question was much rarer and less of a risk than originally thought caused the government to claw it back:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2004/12/02/sushi-rules041202.html
http://www.sobersecondthought.com/articles/nomorefrozensushi.html

There are, of course, some sushi restaurants that still serve previous frozen sushi, but it’s generally the lower-end and mid-range places that do so for cost reasons rather than health.