Raw Cheese Ordered Destroyed—With No Evidence of Contamination


raw food raid
After a shockingly violent FDA raid on a food co-op, the FDA’s war on raw milk and cheese continues by forcing a family dairy to destroy $250,000 worth of its product.

As we wrote a few months ago, the FDA is continuing an aggressive campaign of harassment and legal intimidation meant to eliminate raw milk products. The latest attack began July 30 with the Rawesome Raid, where a closed-circuit video shows gun-toting FDA agents storming a raw foods co-op in Venice, CA, ordering everyone in the store up against a wall and frisking them, then filling seventeen unrefrigerated coolers with items such as raw milk, raw honey, and raw cane syrup. (“I still can’t believe they took our yogurt,” said onre Rawesome volunteer. “There’s a medical marijuana shop a couple miles away, and they’re raiding us because we’re selling raw dairy products?”)
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) was assigned to do lab tests of all the seized food, which they did—seven weeks later, though no samples were sent to the various cheese producers for independent testing as required by FDA regulations. No one seems to know how the foods were handled, or whether they were cooled properly, in the seven weeks between the confiscation and the testing. A press release issued by CDFA saying its lab “detected” Listeria monocytogenes in two varieties of raw-milk cheese from a family farm in Missouri called Morningland Dairy.
Morningland Dairy immediately recalled 68,957 pounds of raw-milk cheese (made with cows’ milk and goats’ milk), even though the FDA acknowledged that no one had become ill from eating the cheese. The FDA, together with the Missouri Milk Board, wanted to determine the source of the infection, so the FDA tested their plant thoroughly. On September 14, the dairy received a verbal declaration from an FDA official that all swabs used to test their cheese plant and their milk barn came back negative (i.e., clean). Three days later, two FDA officials closed that investigation.
Suddenly, on September 27, Morningland received a “destroy all” order from the Missouri Milk Board. They had to destroy all their cheese, even though the cheese stock had never been tested or found to be contaminated. This is nearly 50,000 pounds of cheese, worth approximately $250,000.
Note that the only thing the FDA raiders could complain about following the Rawesome Raid was two allegedly contaminated packets of Morningland cheese, tested seven weeks after confiscation, after having been left who-knows-where all that time. If the FDA really doubts the health of Morningland cheese, the agency should test the cheese at the dairy, as the dairy owners suggest. But no: branding Morningland as dangerous purveyors of raw milk products is the only way FDA can justify the outrageous behavior of its Gestapo-like raid.
According to the Raw Milk Cheese Association, FDA regulations say the cheese produced from raw milk—that is, milk not heated above 104 degrees—shall be aged for 60 days or longer at a temperature of not less than 35°F. (The 60-day clause goes back to the 1940s.) So does aging kill bacteria or not? If it does, as FDA regulations would indicate, and if the FDA’s own tests found no bacteria at the dairy in question, then might we not conclude that the bacteria grew because the FDA placed the cheese in unrefrigerated coolers, with no record of how it was stored, until it was tested seven weeks later?
The media is raising the profile of the raw milk debate. As a recent Time magazine cover story on raw milk points out, advocates question why this age-old product is under such unrelenting government attack while the practices of vast feedlots and food processors are not. Scott Trautman, a Wisconsin farmer who lost his only corporate customer last year because he was selling raw milk on the side, believes the crackdown on raw-milk microdairies is essentially a way for Big Dairy to eliminate the competition. Megacorporations are “going to pick up these farms for 10 cents on the dollar,” he says. “That’s the endgame in all this.”
Friends of Morningland have put up a website, The Uncheese Party. They are asking supporters to sponsor a cheese to help the family meet its large legal bills and loss of sales.

68 comments

  1. Thank you a million times over for putting Morningland Dairy in your newsletter. Just wanted to let everyone know we have a new website now, a blog actually, http://uncheeseparty.wordpress.com/ There is an explanation about what an uncheese party means and a Paypal donation button. As you have said, Morningland Dairy really needs to be supported financially through this tough time, and especially for potential legal costs upcoming. Thanks to all the members of ANH for helping to make the request go viral.
    Best,
    Sharon Zecchinelli

    1. Hi Sharon
      I’m so sorry for the action of our criminal authorities, and how this has affected you. I was thinking that I have learned how to improve on my original position in situations that have devastated me by taking advantage of the opportunities that have arisen as a result. For example, you have written to this wonderful site and as a result, when my finances improve, I will buy your cheeses. Till now, I had no idea you existed. I searched Mike Adams the Health Ranger’s site for this story & he doesn’t have it. I am sure he would be very interested in hearing from you, maybe interviewing you and let his over 3,000,000 readers and viewers know about you, your site and how to order. I think he is non-dairy, but I believe if the dairy is made properly as you do, it isn’t harmful. His news site is http://www.naturalnews.com
      when I searched organic dairy on his site, I got this.
      http://www.naturalnews.com/GoogleSearchResults.html?q=organic+dairy&cx=010579349100583850635%3Aw_kzwe9_yca&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&sa.x=38&sa.y=16#1263
      Then there’s the OCA Organic Consumers Association and many more. Mike would tell you more, he is a real trooper.
      Many blessings to you, I pray you overcome this and become more prosperous than ever as a result of it.

      1. Hi Jane,
        First of all I am just one of the helpers in this situation, not directly connected to the cheese debacle. Thanks for the heads up about Mike Adams. Maybe you wouldn’t mind being a 10-minute citizen and contacting him about Morningland Dairy. I’ve got my hands full with maintaining the wordpress site, the new Pledgie thing, plus my own little farm.
        Peace and grace,
        Sharon

  2. What do police officers think of themselves when they are involved in harrassing perfectly honest and decent citizens going about the business of helping people stay healthy and well by eating raw cheese and drinking raw milk? This is purely tyranny and bullyism with no basis in law!
    If anything can be called EVIL, this kind of organized destruction of people’s welfare definitely is.
    We don’t need agencies and police like this. They should be fired. And honest police officers should protect citizens against criminals like these and against the FDA. The FDA should be disbanded forthwith, and its leadership prosecuted.

  3. Where is the thinking!!! There are many consumers who would like to use raw dairy products. Cannot the FDA let people buy at their own risk?! My husband and his sisters grew up on raw milk during WWII; they seem to have great immunity. They are in their sixties and pretty healthy people.
    We ride amusement park rises at our own risk — I don’t choose to ride certain roller coasters or rides, but I get to choose that. We drive cars, risky. We wear seat belts for extra protection. If we have an accident, we have insurance and if the car is at fault there are legal remedies. Choice makes food more special..

  4. This is very distressing and disturbing. I can’t find a raw milk cow share in New Mexico; had to get milk from TX. This makes me really made. If I had land, I would be raising dairy cows to share millk. I just got my health back and I can’t tolerate pasturized dairy. When are people going to revolt?

    1. Ullana: ‘THE PEOPLE” are YOU. It starts with as many of us as we can reach–internationally–getting vociferously active. Raise your voice, send letters, organize a protest, a concert…..whatever way we can get attention. The fascist tactics employed by the FDA are in alignment with the rapacious Monsantos (still in the white house, btw) and GMO corn flinging-over-the-organic-farmer’s-fence…..raids produce the “evidence” they need to shut ’em down in the same way as their “culturing” that raw cheese in unrefrigerated cases does. Big Pharma won’t be satisfied until they have complete control, so they’d destroy all supplements and organic and natural competition–ANY WAY FOR US TO SUPPORT THE HEALTH OF THE HOST. With every generation we see weaker immunity due to processed, modified, microwaved, dead food. The AMA and corporate medicine love it: corn alone is responsible for the deterioration and unprecedented obesity of a nation…now onto the world!
      Hospitals are ordered to perform billions of dollars in unnecessary tests and procedures. I was personally a target on two separate occasions, but achieved healing by holistic treatment with no recurring symptoms.
      We must educate ourselves and take greater responsibility. We must take greater risks if we are to claim freedom. If I have to move to the country to grow my own organic veges and buy my own goat for raw milk, then so be it. If they won’t let me do that, it’s war. I intend to make as much noise as possible. I pray that everyone who reads this will start their own campaign against the fascist takeover of our dietary freedoms!

  5. In your article, you speak of two dairies, Morningland and Morningside. Which is the dairy in question, please?

  6. When the FDA, by way of its handling of its investigation has shown itself to be the Fox, is investigating the Dairy “House,” who is investigating the Fox? Local law enforcement has Internal Affairs; what does the FDA have? Senate subcommittee? Shouldn’t they be investigated? Where is the media, like NPR, or 60 Minutes, when you need them?

  7. The camera tells the story. Guns are now used to frighten American citizens without just cause. This is another example of the FDA using law enforcement officers as the skapegoats for their dirty deeds. While they claim to be protecting the public they are really denying our right to freedom of choice to a healthy life and nutritious foods. It is a disgrace they were allowed to confiscate these foods rather than test then on site and portect the financial invest ment of the business. A court should find them guilty of unlawful destruction of property and require they to pay compensation and damages for harassment.

  8. So sorry this happened to these people. Can’t wait until we can show the FDA and USDA for the dirty Red-handed charletons they are.
    I say SUE, SUE, SUE.

  9. If a Co-op is a private membership and the product is not sold to the public, then the FDA is braking the Law under the First and Fourteenth amendment of the US constitution and equivalent provisions of your State Constitution, you
    have the right to associate with fellow members and offer benefits and services that are outside
    of the jurisdiction, venue and authority of State and/or Federal agencies. What could come under
    scrutiny and in some cases be considered a criminal act outside the association can be perfectly
    legal within the protection of a private association.
    This right of association is not absolute; the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in many cases that the
    State cannot interfere with private association activities unless the private members are being
    subjected to a substantial evil that would shock a person’s moral and common sense. For
    example, if the private members are becoming seriously ill or injured or dying due to the socalled
    benefits and services of the association, then outside State and/or Federal agencies can
    intervene.
    However, if there is no substantial evil, and although the services of the private association may
    be controversial, unpopular, unconventional, or lack proper endorsements and approvals, the
    U.S. Supreme Court again has overwhelmingly ruled that a freedom of assembly and association
    cannot be violated.
    If you continue to
    operate or offer your services to the public and perhaps are selected to be made an example of
    how the state is “protecting the public,” you presently have minimal defense and may not prevail
    even if you could afford to pay huge legal fees.
    I think Co-ops are private associations and the FDA is in the wrong if you have to join that Co-op to purchase the product, then that is between members and not the public that the FDA is supposed to protect.

  10. I share in the frustration caused by the government actions against raw milk, as well as their apathy toward so many other health violations in the more “accepted” kinds of foods, such as high fructose corn syrup products. I see fundamental violations of common sense everyday, as customers continue to support the carbonated drinks we know so well as contributing to the poor health of millions. The dairy industry is out to eliminate competition at any cost, and they are taking no prisoners. The corporate muscle in America has become a real threat to the health of every one of us. More people should take the attack on raw milk products, as a violation of their fundamental freedoms. Sadly, the flailing educational system in America, has more victims than just kids learning less, it’s more likely they will continue to be less, and less healthy as well.

  11. They have gone way too far this time. There will be a backlash. Fear-mongering is their method of control. They can’t stand up to everybody and win. these dairies should look into converting to a 1st and 14th Amendment Private Membership Association.
    I am relaying information from another web site
    :
    This means that as members customers will be allowed to purchase and use the products without government interference. It also means that they will be able to discuss the fellow member health benefit experiences of MMS with you in a more open and candid manor.
    One major difference is that you will have to fill out the member application at the time of purchase.
    The FDA has to follow the rules set by the laws and earlier court precedents. The law says that the FDA must notify the people before coming and then when they arrive they must tell the owner in clear language why they are going to investigate him. They may then make further appointments. They also didn’t send him a copy of the complaint. These errors are covered by the following court cases.
    ● Davis v. Scherer, 82 L. Ed. 2d 139 at 155;
    ● Armstrong v. Mauzo, 14 L. Ed. 2d 62;
    ● Grannis v. Ordean 58 L. Ed. 1363;
    ● Mathews v. Eldridge, 47 L. Ed. 2d 18.
    ● And others.
    To operate as a Amendment Private Membership Association, write a letter informing the FDA that you would beginning to sell Dairy products to your private membership at a certain date and they have 10 days to voice their objections, if they have any. WELL, THE ORGANIZATION THAT I AM RELAYING INFO ABOUT/FROM IS NOW BACK SELLING THEIR HEALTH PRODUCT TO THEIR PRIVATE MEMBERS. AND OTHER COMPANIES ARE STARTING UP WITH THE SAME IDEA IN MIND.

  12. What can we do to protest this? Goat milk is a problem too. You have to be huge to afford all the trappings they require to market it, and we all know small farmers are more careful. Also, If I by something produced down the road, I know where a problem came from.
    I have always loved Morningside products, even though I buy very little prepared foods, or even much from the grocery store.

  13. I am apalled, this is just not acceptable. what can be done about these Gestapo tactics?it is really frustrating to hear of this kind of goings on from our own gov’t. I really hope on nov 12 the politicains responsible for letting this happen will be removed. do the laws support the FDA in these kinds of actions against innocent people? I don’t know what to do to help, people just want to be left alone to live and eat whats good for them, with out bothering anyone else. nobody got hurt and nothing was found wrong, yet this was devistating to their business, and now they are left with nothing from all of the premeditated destruction by our own gov’t. the FDA needs to be held accountable fore this travesty. something has got to change with the FDA. some one with some power behind them needs to back these innocent people. thank you for the update and the work that you do.

  14. The FDA is a very scary organization. I wonder how much influence Big Dairy has with the FDA. I believe that Big Dairy is attempting to eleminate the better product, so consumer will not have a choice in what they buy.

  15. This is criminal! I am 77 years old. I grew up drinking raw milk. I raised my children on raw milk.
    Why doesn’t the FDA go after the milk producers, like Luzerne, that produce fake milk and cream.
    Their milk should be labeled milk drink, not milk, since it has little, if any, food value and their cream
    is mostly carrageenan!

  16. That reminds me, I wanted to make dinner out of delicious raw cheddar and a tomato from my unlicensed tomato-in-a-pot container ‘farm’ on an Ezekiel hotdog bun. Now I have a good reason to enjoy it extra, to thumb my nose at those bastards who want to take my cheese away! I’m lactose intolerant – EXCEPT with raw cheese!

  17. If the FDA searched those people personally without a search warrent, they were guilty of breaking the law. If they threatened those people with drawn guns after no threat from the people, I believe they were guilty of incorrect procedure. If they analyzed the cheese incorrectly, they should be obligated to pay for the cheese. If they destroyed cheese that was not contaminated, as opposed to that part of the cheese that was, they should have to pay for the cheese that was not contaminted, assuming that the test had been correct. If I were running that dairy I would sue those tyrants. I had been always concerned that this country would descend into tyrrany in the future because of our increasing dependance on the government. It looks as if I was wrong. It has already arrived.
    I belive that dairies can avoid real contaminations in the future by freezing the cheese. I am rather sure that bacteria can not survive freezing temperatures.

  18. Why did the FDA need guns? Jesus. I’m sure they would’ve gotten the same results if they showed their badges and asked for the milk products.
    The government subsitizes milk, right?
    So the raw milk farmers are a threat because they are taking away from the regular dairy farmers. I buy raw milk, if and when I get any cheeses.
    When my daughter was going to school and she didn’t want a milk, it costed her more for non-milk lunch than for a lunch with milk. That just infuriates me!!!!!!

  19. These recent tactics of the FDA are really outrageous! And of course the real reason behind them…well, follow the money! More and more these days, everything is about the bottom line.
    I am forced to conclude that we are now living in a police state. It may soon be dangerous to leave comments like this on the web. I had better say no more.

  20. This is terrible!!!! The FDA needs to butt out. They don’t even know good food if it were staring them in the face.

  21. There are just “no words” for this kind of behavior of “Law Enforcement”……….I am truly OUTRAGED! and Saddened!!! I hope they can get a GOOD LAWYER………….and fight !!!!

  22. Long before regulation, people were making their own cheese, butter, cream pies, etc.
    and no one got sick from it then, even when we used the spring houses when there
    was no refrigerators. But look at all the sick people today, what does this tell you.

  23. As someone who grew up on raw milk, I know this is raid is a reactionary response. My real feeling is that it is entirely promulgated by the processed milk producers… the big business entities who are concerned that their corner on the market is being challenged. If there was any contamination in these products, how dare they destroy them! I am outraged that this action was taken.

  24. I’ve given to them once before. Its absolutely disgusting that with all the horrible disease-causing junkfood oozing with chemicals that FDA would waste anytime persecuting real food. Junkfood manufacturers should be banned off the face of Earth not real food.

  25. I was raised on raw milk, and I thik I and my family are healthier for it. The FED has it wrong, they should encourage raw milk and cheese production, so long as it is processed in a clean environment, and cowas tested from time to time. There are other things for them to spend their time on. I suspect they are getting perks from the big dairies that don’t want competition form the dairies that provide raw milk.

  26. What in Hell is wrong with the FDA besides the fact that they work for the Legal Drug Lords and Big
    Agra Business. The is Proof all over the web and elsewhere that Homogenized and Pastureized Mild is not all that good for Humans.
    Why do we feel that We as the only Beings in the known Universe that drink milk after we are weened are better off for it? Elephants and Hippos grow up BIG & STRONG never having milk after 2 yrs old.
    The Milk we drink isn’t even our own Specie.
    Get a Clue folks… The AMA & FDA are not out friends. They do not look out for us. My only consolation is that the Bums will get caught in their own trickery some day and the Natural/Alternative Healers will not be able to help them.
    Wait for it!

  27. THE AMERICAN PUBLIC NEEDS TO WAKE UP!!! THE FDA IS SUPPORTED BY THE MEAT INDUSTRY AS WELL AS THE MILK INDUSTRY. BOTH OF THESE ENTITIES CONTROL HOW AND WHAT FOOD IS SOLD IN AMERICA. THE FDA IS NOT LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR HEALTH!! THEY ARE POLITICALLY INVOLVED WITH BIG PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HAVE FULL CONTROL IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY. WE ARE GETTING SICKER AND SICKER IN THIS COUNTRY. WAKE UP!!! THE PHARMACEUTICALS ARE HAND IN HAND WITH THE FDA. THE HAVE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BUY OUT THE SMALL ORGANIC FARMERS. YOU NEED TO BUY FROM YOUR LOCAL GROWERS AS WELL AS WHOLE FOODS AND SMALL BUSINESSES LIKE TRADER JOES. STOP GIVING THEM YOUR DOLLARS AND WE CAN POLITICIANS ON OUR SIDE. BE STRONG. YOUR HEALTH DEPENDS ON IT!!!

  28. The leaders of the FDA and AMA, will some day get caught up in their own deceit and I, for one, will not help them with Alternate Care. Of course they think I can’t anyway.

  29. EVERYONE MARCHES ON WASHINGTON FOR THE STUPIDOUS THINGS. WHY DON’T WE MARCH AS A NATION ON THE FDA AND DECLARE THAT IN THIS LAND OF FREEDOM WE WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE THE TYRANNY OF THE FDA, MILK INDUSTRY TO DESTROY OUR HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF OUR CHILDREN. JUST BY CONNECTING WITH ALL THE SOCIAL NETWORKS, WE CAN UNITE AND HAVE A TREMENDOUS IMPACT IN WASHINGTON. WHAT DO YOU SAY, AMERICA? ARE WE IN??

  30. There is no doubt that the goal is to destroy small businesses, small farms and at the same time, destroy the health of the public. Deadly fluoride is added to our drinking water to deliberately ruin our health. Crops are sprayed repeatedly with pesticides and crops and now salmon, are genetically modifed to wreak havoc on our health.
    It is not acceptable to the elites that wholesome, health-giving food such as wonderful raw cheese, raw milk and other raw dairy should be available to the public who continue to get sicker. Raw, organic dairy farms are desperately needed in the battle for our health.

  31. The FDA really needs to get out of the whole foods business. It is becoming a terrorist organization against organic food growers and manufacturers with no scientific basis for its campaign of terror. We need laws to disband the FDA and/or laws to remove any person working for the FDA who has a conflict of interest with drug or food manufacturers. Laws should prevent any person with a conflict of interest from working for the FDA.
    How many persons working for the FDA receive dividends or some sort of kickback from a food/drug company? How many were employees of a food/drug company before accepting a position with the FDA? These people have a conflict of interest and need to be removed from the FDA. For example: An FDA employee holding stock in a food/drug company will want his stock to grow; this person cannot objectively monitor that company as he has a conflict of interest. This person should not be working for the FDA. Mixing FDA and food/drug personnel is almost like insider trading . . .

  32. Come on! It’s all about the money, huh. Leave the little guys in business alone. Remember, Karma is a you-know-what.

  33. What the FDA did was unconsciable. They want filthy huge corporations who only care abut profits, to control our food supply, I loved clotted cream when I lived in England, and when I asked why there was none here, I was told that it was made from raw milk, and that raw milk was not allowed here. Never ever heard of any illness from clotted cream.

  34. Sounds like someone on the Missouri milk board is getting paid by milk processors to limit the competition. Better check your local government officials. Get the newspapers involved in the investigation and tv stations. Someone higher up will get the heat and find out whats going on. Make sure you VOTE on Nov 2.

  35. looks like the FDA is just like thre rest of government working for big business.
    are we not a fascist state? time to resist the injustice, don’t be complacent.

  36. It is beyond my comprehension how the FDA is allowed to rule the way they do. How could they yield so much power and no one — absolutely no one — can override them. This is not a democracy — it is a dictatorship!!

  37. With Jamie Lee Curtis selling yogurt with bacteria, seemingly with your blessing, why are you so worried about the raw dairy industry? Fact is that some bacteria are good for you. Take E-coli, our bodies need certain e-coli to manufacture vitamin K, yet if you are sick already it can make you sicker, you see too much vitamin K causes clotting problems, to much clotting, so they give us asprin. Asprin in itself doesn’t kill very much e-coli, but, another thing on you blacklist works with asprin, kills it 10-fold, causing the vitamin K deficency seem with asprin. The bacteria in raw milk on the other hand probably displaces it (good bacteria) so that since we all have bacteria, to a certain extent the more kinds we have the less chance that any one will have an overgrowth. It truely amazes me that you worry about raw milk so much, I grew up on it, it is yummy. None of my family, 2 sisters and 6 brother ever got sick from it in the 30 years we drank it. We were some of the most healthy people in our school. As a species, humans developed the capacity to use milk 2000+ years ago, and did fine with it before you came along. When a cow, literally “kicked the bucket” and got grass and other stuff in the milk, we filtered it through a paper filter, and drank it, we lived. Back to e-coli. The substance that makes asprin kill it, cadmium (in the form of cigarettes), also a subject of your paranoia, (its all bad), yet people who smoke get less Parkinson’s, and people with Parkinson’s who smoke are less likely to get lung cancer than people with Parkinson’s who don’t smoke. The reason, cadmium. Why it is that every drug you approve has side effects, cadmium, that and the fact that the opposite of diabetes is hypoglycemia, high blood pressure-low blood pressure, anemia-hemachromitosis, low zinc-high zinc, low cadmium-high cadmium, obesity-anorexia. No matter what Michael P. Wallke says. You can have to little cadmium.

  38. Most good cheese that is imported from most European Nations is made with raw milk. Problem is that these giant factory dairies find it cheaper to produce a filthy product in the first place, then add a little heat at the end to clean things up.

  39. The Hague,Netherlands, 20 oktober 2010
    Dear All,
    Re: A safe remedy against Listeria contamination
    Last week I read that Morningland was said to be contaminated with Listeria. They had to recall a great lot of good cheese which was already in the shops. I hope with you that their recall was in time and consumers did not eat the product and got the killing Listeriosis.
    I am writing to you because I am a former subject to Listeriosis. Luckily I had a strong body so I did not die of it but I was very, very sick!
    I gather you do not know of the remedy called Listex P 100. Listex is a safe remedy made by a Dutch firm called EBI Food safety or Micreos Food safety. Listex P 100 is approved as safe by the American Drug and Food Administration, and also by the Canadian authorities. It is a cheap remedy! Yes much cheaper then destructing a great lot of good food and the of cause the bad name the company gets in the branch. A great amount of advertising money through the drain! Above that a lot of investing to save their turnover!
    Listex is made by a fast growing company in Wageningen, Holland. Site: EBIfoodsafety.com. In my view it is worth while to contact EBI Foodsafety. They are working worldwide. On the site you will see how it works.
    It is also good for the company to use Listex, because Listex is a cheap and approved remedy against Listeria monocytogene and every food producer can use it. If the company does not use it their liability can easily be proved in court. Listex is very well known in the food branch. The company never can say “I did not know…”.
    22 Deaths in Canada should be a warning! Listex was offered the gold medal of the Food Industry Innovation.
    Contacting EBIFoodsafety.com can mean the salvage of your company. And also can save many deaths and sick like me!
    To be precise: I am NOT on the pay list of EBI Foodsafety, I am just working to ban out the Listeria bacteria. I do not want other people suffer from Listeriose like I did.
    If Morningland and many other cheese, fish and meat producing companies would contact EBIFoodsafety.com and start using Listex, there is no nead anymore for
    blogs like this. All people could eat these products without being afraid of getting contracted withe listeriose!
    So Morningland Use Listex!
    Gustaaf van der Feltz
    [email protected]

  40. The FDA is a criminal organization who works for the eugenic Rockefeller clan. This is just the simple truth and the sooner we realize it the sooner we can change it.

  41. I thought raw milk was legal in CA? FDA bullying pure and simple! Why is it that sushi is sold in stores or raw meat of ANY kind? Who’s stopping us from eating chicken raw??? This is such stupidity! We absolutely need to stand up because our rights are being stolen! I will help out with $$$ to this farm.

  42. So our federal agencies all apparently have aggressive armed goon squads seizing ‘illegal’ substances. I can’t imagine what rage and hostility would well up in me if I were confronted by these lowbrow powermad assholes, hassling people over cheese…it’s absolutely ridiculous. It reminds me of the jerks at the Canadian border imprisoning people on the least excuse, and the police behavior at the G-20 in Toronto. One might well ask what the hell is going on. It seems we are becoming victims of a burgeoning police state, and we are losing, or have already lost, our constitutional rights.
    Yes, there is a question about the possibility of brucella being present in unpasteurized dairy, and it needs to be addressed, but surely this doesn’t rise to the level of invasion by federal thugs, does it?
    Ancient Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times.

  43. Michael Taylor was named the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods in January 2010. He said, “We look forward to working in new ways within FDA and with partners in other government agencies, the consumer community, and the food industry to tackle the important challenges – and the unprecedented opportunities – we currently face.” Now we know that includes illegal harrassment and destruction of any competition to the corporate factory farm dairy industry.
    From the FDA website: Mr. Taylor began his career as a staff attorney at FDA, holding various positions including deputy commissioner for policy. He was involved in issuing regulations to address seafood safety and in carrying out nutrition labeling requirements. Other positions held by Mr. Taylor include senior fellow, Resources for the Future; professor, School of Medicine, University of Maryland; partner, King & Spalding law firm; and vice president for public policy, Monsanto Company.
    From bnet.com: While Taylor was the FDA’s policy chief in the early 1990s, the agency approved genetically modified crops and bovine growth hormone for cows, new technologies that both benefited Monsanto enormously. And FDA rules stated that both GM foods and bovine growth hormone would not need labeling to let consumers know when it was appearing in their food. But that’s not all. As a lobbyist, Taylor argued against the Delaney Clause, one of the foundations of food safety regulation that prohibits cancer-causing chemicals to be added to food. Even some of Taylor’s food safety achievements don’t look so great. HACCP, a safety system he championed while at the USDA, is essentially a program in which the industry gets to regulate itself.
    Michael Taylor is an evil man. His name sums up the majority of the problems with corruption of the food industry in this country. He has demonstrated he is willing to act outside the law and against the public on every important issue.
    Why isn’t he in prison?
    Why isn’t his boss, Margaret Hamburg, MD, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, reining him in? Why hasn’t she fired him?
    Why hasn’t the U.S. Attorney General, the FBI, or congress investigated Monsanto for corruption? Why haven’t Monsanto executives, including Michael Taylor, been charged and convicted under the RICO act?
    Why isn’t congress performing its responsibilities of oversight and action on the FDA and its commissioners?
    Here’s one thing we can all do to start eradicating corruption from our government: Vote all incumbents out on election day without regard to party affiliation. Vote them ALL out and keep voting them out until they stop whoring for corporate money and begin acting for their constituents.

    1. I coudn’t agree more with Ona on prosecuting under the RICO Act. I believe our government it is in collusion with special interests of certain corporations for their benefit to the detriment of the American people. I’ve suggested this idea to some Constitutional attorney’s. Let’s keep talking it up!

  44. As someone who grew up on raw milk, I think this is really an extreme and scary tactic. Too bad that much was lost… for nothing.
    I do not know why in the world, the government agencies spend a lot on time in this, rather than concentrating in important issues such as Monsanto and FDA corruption. ~

  45. We used to purchase this cheese when our children were young – very wonderful from biodynamically raised cows… this is just terrible that the govt agencies can get away with this!

  46. It might sound out of this world, but I do believe Humane Society Of the United States is behind this thugery. PETA likes to do these things too, and guess who was trained by ALF? The power that runs HSUS. They got the chickens in CA. The beef in Ohio, why not spread out and condemn the cheese and dairy producers. With the power, money and legal support along with the minds to mastermind a control, I can’t get the HSUS out of my mind.Time will be coming when we won’t be able to buy OTC vitamins thanks to these thugs too. Get ready, the ride is not over, it is just beginning.

  47. It is interesting how many commentors were surprised &/or outraged by the gestapo-type actions of the FDA. The FDA has been carrying out these kind of raids against various businesses since the mid-80s, that I’m aware of. My first awareness was when the FDA, accompanied by police, broke into Dr. Jonathan Wright’s medical office in Tacoma, WA with guns drawn, held everyone at gun point while they illegally took patients records. Years later the case against Dr. Wright was dropped but other doctors across the U.S. promoting natural healing or dealing with patients with chronic pain have not been so lucky. One pain doctor (from VA, I think) was labeled a “pill-pusher” and sent to jail for 15 years……some of his patients commited suicide because it is impossible to find pain doctors in this area.
    The FDA has totally lost its mission and has been on the trail to shut down anything natural: Doctor’s promoting preventitive healing or healing foods…private food groups…small &/or family businesses…pain doctors, etc. (The USDA is no better.)
    Big Pharma, mega-corps promoting factory farms and genetically modified seeds or poisonous products and draconian rulings impacting family business is what the FDA supports regardless of the negative results reported by research.
    Our only defense against this un-holy war is to become conscious and to become active! ! ! ! ! Write letters, sign petitions, and most important, vote with your dollars……stop buying processed products or you will surely be eating foods contaminated with genetically modified ingredients that continue to genetically modify the genes within your body once injested. Add to that exposure to HFCS, hydrogenation, BPA poisoning if you use canned goods, toxic release in air and absorption in body of chemical cleaners (when vinegar and baking soda can replace most products). This is a quick list off the top of my head. There are many others. We need to get back to basics people – and spread the word.

  48. I am 74 and I have eaten Morningstar cheese for years…because it is raw (see WellFedNeighbor site for more info). There is such a push against natural foods right now. Obama has appointed so many biotech people such as Monsanto execs to posts on Ag, food and water (see organic bytes for more into). This is a national push. There were local state, federal and Canadian troops doing the Rawesome Raid in CA (see Natural News for more into). This is no small issue. If S 510 passes, and the House bill that Leahy and Franken introduced passes, there will be no local growers. A large sum of money is in Senate bill S510 for FDA to hire even more people to close down and intimidate growers and sellers of natural foods and supplements…and next there will be Codex Alimentarus which will outlaw supplements.
    PUT SIGNS on your car windows. Sign petitions at Organic Bytes and Farm to Consumer sites. Confront your local politicians. Morningstar had several families employed at this small Southern Missouri Ozark Farm. Look into Well Fed Neighbor…local MO org to develop local foods, sales, etc. Write newspapers and sign your names…we need to stand up before it’s too late.

  49. This is outrageous. I’ve eaten Morningland Dairy Cheese for years & I noticed the health food store was no longer carrying it. I think any commercial cheese would rot if left out of the refrigerator for a week. What I get at the grocery store often has mold all over it after I’ve had it for a couple of weeks & I have to throw it away. That never happened wwith Morningland Cheese.

  50. I haven’t read all the other replies; there are so many, so I don’t know if this was address. However, on a trip to Europe to Italy and France, I ate ALL raw cheese and milk products. They were wonderful; so fresh and full of flavor — better than any I’ve had in the US. Never suffered any ill effects at all. I just think our government wants to create more fear again.

  51. This same thing has happened to the award-winning Estrella Family Creamery in Montesano, WA. The FDA shut them down after they refused to recall all of their products. After finding Listeria bacteria in a particular batch from a cave where soft cheeses are aged, the creamery voluntarily recalled several cheeses, destroyed the cheese from that cave, and temporarily shut down production while it improved its facilities. The FDA seized ALL of the cheeses, even though only one batch aged in a particular cave tested positive for the bacteria. To her credit, the owner of the creamery told the Seattle Times that this whole thing is not really about the cheese, but “[i]ts about liberty and freedoms.”

  52. I think this is an implorable tactic and the exact reason the FDA should be dismantled. The FDA is a biased institution and does not have the knowledge or ethics to do what is right for the health of the people in America. People all over the world do make and consume raw milk products that are not only safe, but are also superior to processed milk products because they contain natural, “good” bacteria that enhances digestion and keeps the stomach free from harmful bacterias.
    We need an FDA tea party! Honest citizens with no corporate ties to run that organization.

  53. I grew up on raw milk as well. I am healthy and never got sick from raw milk. I know the FDA does this sort of thing whenever they want, but I still find it offensive that they don’t believe we deserve the freedom to choose and accept responsibility for our choices. I would like to see THEM shut down. I believe that they have outlived their usefulness in most areas.

  54. I am sure the conventional dairies with their low standards and the pasteurizers are behind the attacks on raw dairy producers. What if they had to keep their products clean, have clean facilities, if they couldn’t dump a cow patty in the bucket and just pasteurize it to acceptable standards? Where would the obscene profits be in a system like that??

  55. The eggs that were recalled recently… Think scaring people into feeling the FDA needs more power was the goal? I do.
    How about families whose children are taken away and remanded to the state if the parents don’t agree to treat any diagnosed illness the way the doctor thinks they should?
    Having a home birth with a midwife in many states can get the midwife arrested even though it’s safer than hospital births in many cases.
    I’m terrified of our government! We keep voting them in, but, really what are the choices? Anyone not mainstream who would stand up for us can’t get into office. There are too many people who fall for this garbage.

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