MEMORANDUM 13
Submitted by Leon Downey
I was outraged today to hear Professor Pennington
inferring on radio and television that the recent E.coli
food poisoning was from unpasteurised milk. This is an example
of deliberately misleading the public.
* * * * *
The public has a right to know the real circumstances
of this outbreak:
1. Did the pasteuriser fail? the result being
that contaminated milk was distributed to the public.
Could this be an example of dirty milk production
being camouflaged by pasteurisation?
2. It is now time for the public to know the
real truth about pasteurised and unpasteurised milk.
Statistics on food poisoning from milk should
be published as follows:
(a) The incidence of E.coli poisoning
from unpasteurised milk producers over the last five years.
(b) The incidence of E.coli poisoning
from pasteurised milk producers over the last five years.
We will then be able to draw comparisons which
will help the public to make a decision on which milk to drink.
I know my decision and that would be to drink raw milk produced
by a farmer who takes a pride in his production knowing full well
that if his production methods are suspect his livelihood would
be at stake. There is no way I would be persuaded by Professor
Pennington to drink dirty milk cleaned up by pasteurisation. I
know only too well that if this treatment of milk fails it can
be fatal.
March 1999
| 
