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Catching the milk devil by the tail
24-09-2007
What does Professor Keith Woodford of Lincoln University have in common with Rachael Carson and Ralph Nader?
Woodford's book Devil in the Milk - Illness, health and politics A1 and A2 milk is potentially as significant as Carson's Silent Spring or Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed.
Carson drew attention to the dangers of DDT as a pesticide and is often credited with having launched the global environmental movement.
Nader alleged many American cars were unsafe, especially the Chevrolet Corvair.
His book resulted in important changes in vehicle design. Woodford alerts us to the potential dangers of A1 milk and the politics of the debate over it.
Beta-casomorphin-7, or BCM7, is a powerful opioid or narcotic and an oxidant.
It is formed by the digestion of a particular type of milk protein (A1 beta-casein) produced by some cows.
Milk free of A1 beta casein is known as A2 milk. All milk used to be A2 until a natural mutation affected some European cows a long time ago.
Woodford presents an independent, carefully documented and largely readable case of the health issues surrounding A1 and A2 milk. What he has discovered is disturbing to the open-minded reader.
BCM7 has been implicated in many illnesses, including heart disease, type 1 diabetes and autism. There is increasing evidence, he says, it is associated with milk intolerance and an additional range of auto-immune diseases. He calls it, metaphorically, "the devil in the milk".
New Zealand, Australia, Finland, the USA and Great Britain have milk with high levels of BCM7.
It is not particularly difficult to convert a herd of cows so they produce only A2 milk.
It will typically take about 10 years. While some farmers are "quietly converting their herds to A2 as a risk-management strategy" most of NZ farmers continue to do nothing about A2, he says.
The reason for this, he says, is they are working on the premise that as their processing and marketing co-operative, Fonterra, has been
telling them A2 is not an issue,
they don't need to do anything about it.
Woodford is critical of Fonterra, the Fonterra Research Centre and some of its personnel. Based on the material Woodford cites, he has cause to be critical.
He is also critical of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority whose multiple roles may at times be in conflict. Its website says it "protects and promotes public health and safety" and "facilitates access to markets for New Zealand food and food products".
Woodford's chapter on The Food Safety Game suggests the former may have taken second place to the latter.
Woodford's story has significant implications for dairy farmers, as well as for milk consumers.
The public is now aware A1 milk is linked to a range of serious illnesses.
Demand for A2 milk will increase. Prudent farmers will be converting their herds to A2.
Producers of A2 milk currently receive the same price as suppliers of A1.
They could be receiving a premium. Supermarkets in Christchurch are retailing North Island-sourced A2 for $10.30 for 2 litres.
Fonterra should be marketing A2 milk as a premium product. An opportunity is being lost.
Should Fonterra not move quickly to reward A2 producers it runs the risk those members could exit the co-operative and deliver supply to a processor who is prepared to supply the market with A2 milk. Woodford's claims have been rejected, by Federated Farmers and the Food Safety Authority.
This is undeserved. Like Woodford, Carson and Nader faced negative reactions from entrenched interests.
Devil in the Milk is soundly researched, as were Silent Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed. It should be read by every dairy farmer and consumer.
• Alan Robb is an independent financial commentator and Adjunct Professor at Saint Mary's University, Canada.