Final Conclusion of Research Part 2

What does Johne's disease have to do with food?      An infected cow may show no symptoms, yet may be shedding MAP in its feces - and in it's milk.  Nevertheless, the dairy industry insists the milk is safe.

Because retail milk is being tested for MAP - right?       Wrong.  The sad fact is, in the United States we don't really know if the milk we give our children is free of MAP contamination, because our milk is not being tested.  The dairy industry has paid for studies that allege that pasteurization kills all MAP organisms in milk.  Many other researchers disagree.  But despite questions about milk safety, the dairy industry insists that its pasteurization process is so good that we don't even need to test milk after it's been pasteurized.  Also protecting the dairy industry instead of the consumer, the Food and Drug Administration refuses to test retail milk. Instead, the FDA's official position is that "there is no hazard" to the consumer from MAP.

     In the UK, they believed that their milk was safe, but researchers cultured living MAP from samples of pasteurized milk taken from store shelves in Northern Ireland.  Since the UK government wanted to take no chances that their milk might be contaminated, in August of 1998 they commissioned a $320,000 study to test the milk.  Interim reports show MAP is alive and well in the milk after pasteurization. The UK pasteurization process is identical to ours here in the United States.  HTST (High Temperature Short Time) 15 seconds at 161 degrees Fahrenheit.

What about beef?  Is there a problem with beef cattle as well?      The beef industry has begun to learn the extent of the MAP problem in beef herds and hopes to deal with it effectively.

Don't USDA inspections protect us?      No.  The food safety methods for testing of beef, and beef products mandated by the USDA Food Safety and Inspections Service are only capable of detecting fecal contamination of meat.  They are not capable of detecting intracellular and extracellular MAP bacteria that may be present in blood, muscle tissue, and various internal organs from the cow.

And those sick dairy cows:  Might our children be eating contaminated hamburgers right now?      Yes.  Present regulations permit cows known to be infected with MAP to be slaughtered for human consumption.

Is the detective work finished?      Not at all.  But despite the handicap of shoestring budgets, little or no grant money and hostile special interest groups, dedicated researchers around the world persevere, adding to our knowledge of the

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