Hoard’s Dairyman has been
producing articles on consumer activist topics fairly regularly, the last two
issues suggesting that “Organic food marketers use scare tactics” and
that lack of supporting science is what aborted a PETA advertising campaign
against milk [mimicking the “milk mustache” ads] under a title “Got Autism?”
The PETA ads intending to link
childhood consumption of milk to the increase in autistic children also had the
potential to link cow’s milk to childhood onset diabetes if not many
autoimmune diseases. The scientific link
comes from old research in New Zealand and Australia that was challenged by
industry, then picked up ten years later by the UN’s World Health Organization
and researched in Eastern Europe to similar conclusions. The contentions from this research are as
follows:
(1)
Unlike human breast milk, as well as goat, sheep, water buffalo
(essentially all studied mammals), there are multiple, mutated forms of “Beta
Casein” in cow’s milk. These
mutations occurred centuries prior to domestication of Bos Taurus (European)
cattle, and are spread through all known dairy breeds.
The normal Beta Casein
variant is A2, the mutated Beta Casein variants are A1,
B, and a few others.
(2)
The original New Zealand research believed it found an association
between the consumption of A1 casein-content milk and the rise of
auto-immune disorders in children. The
NZ dairy industry’s response was to assert that no causal link was
established Part of the assumptions
on each side were conflicting interpretations of the effect of cows producing both
forms of the Beta Casein (as a majority of NZ cows tested were
“heterozygous” in gene possession as A1A2 Beta Casein).
(3)
Based on all the evidence, pro and con, offered over the last twenty or
more years, the conclusion of medical researchers was to recommend “IF you have
a family [genetic] history of risk for auto immune disorders, such as Type A
(Childhood) Diabetes, Autism, and related issues, avoid consumption of
milk that is not produced by “homozygous” A2A2 dairy cows.” That is as far as science goes on it.
There is no “PROOF” that the
mutated Beta Caseins in pooled cow milk “CAUSES” autism.
Lacking that proof, PETA was enjoined
from continuing their planned series of ads that were, as all their efforts
consistently seek, designed to destroy the dairy cattle industry (as part of
the mega-industry of all animal-derived food, clothing and other
products). However, Weston Price
Foundation (not related to PETA) does publish and distribute a book
entitled Devil in the Milk that is making a strong case to
consumers- “seek out sources of DNA tested verified homozygous A2A2 Beta
Casein cows and only consume their milk, thus avoiding ingesting the
mutated forms of Beta Casein.”
THE TIME
TO BE PROACTIVE
HAS ARRIVED.
The proactive dairymen will
select for A2A2 Beta casein and even “polled” heads. These are simple genetics. In our business alone we have over 140
homozygous A2 sires in twelve breeds, as well as 80 polled sires in
eight breeds, with more being identified regularly. Some emphasis on health trait genes will
assist you in lowering bulk tank cell counts over time as well. The trends in dairy are once again in
favor of “quality” over “commodity” and the wise dairyman does not get
jealous of the neighbor who pursues on-farm bottling, certified organic, or any
other developing market with premium milk prices—he does his homework to
qualify for what may be coming next in his market. Increasingly, the effort to fill
premium markets will begin with genetic characteristics.
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