The Colbert Report last night took some well-earned shots at raw milk last night (the segment is below).

Playing his Captain Freedom card, Colbert said “the nanny state is always sticking its nose into our business, from baby seats to motorcycle helments,” and in response to the proprieters of Rawesome Foods in Venice, Calif., which was raided for selling raw milk and also now features raw camel’s milk, Colbert deadpanned, “Raw milk, straight from the udder, just the way our founding fathers and their camels intended it.”

The Colbert Report is satire, playing riffs on daily news events; it’s not real news (although many think it is).

Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration food safety czar, David Acheson, was also interviewed for the piece and, according to Colbert, played the “bloody diarrhea” card, while Rep. Ron Paul said this is “pasteurization without representation.”

There are lots of risky foods and Americans are free to pick their poisons. But no one wants bloody diarrhea from a staple food that is used to nourish children, especially when pasteurization offers a solution.
 

DH News Service: reports that an 11-year-old white tiger Arya and four-year-old Minchu have shown no improvement after suffering from severe bout of diarrhea following salmonella infection after eating meat.

This has forced veterinary doctors to change the course of antibiotics on Friday. Since the time they fell ill, both the tigers have not eaten anything.

M N Jayakumar, IFS officer and Member-Secretary of Zoo Authority of Karnataka, said eight tigers were unwell. But 41 tigers, which are in the safari area have no health problems. There are 22 lions and none have health complications although they were fed with chicken supplied by a particular contractor for Shivajinagar.

On the affected tigers, he said, E. coli and Salmonella bacteria present in chicken were the culprits.

The blood samples of nine tigers sent by BBP to the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinarian Biologicals (IVHVB) on Thursday reported salmonella bacteria for few samples, few samples had E. coli and in the rest had both bacteria in them.

The Denver Post reports this morning, at first, Mary Pierce (right, photo by Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post) thought her 2-year-old couldn't stop throwing up because she had a typical stomach bug. A few days later, she watched in terror as the lethargic little girl was rushed by helicopter to The Children's Hospital, her little kidneys shutting down.

Then Nicole's 5-year-old brother, Aaron, fell ill, following her into the hospital and onto a dialysis machine. The cause of their potentially deadly illness: drinking raw goat's milk from a local dairy.

"I'm not a typical Boulder person," Pierce said. "We were just trying it because my son is allergic to dairy. We're not going near it anymore. … It's not worth it. You can't understand until it's your kid lying in the bed."

The outbreak in June that sent the Pierce children to the hospital for three weeks and sickened about 30 others has state health officials ramping up efforts to warn people against drinking unpasteurized milk.

There are lots of foods that make people sick, and people are free to pick their poisons. But if raw milk is about choice, then pasteurized milk is safer and more affordable. And it’s always the kids that suffer from their parents’ choices.

Health Canada is reminding Canadians that raw or undercooked sprouts should not be eaten by children, older adults, pregnant women or those with weakened immune systems.

Health Canada used to say raw sprouts should be avoided if concerned about illness, but now they are more direct. That 2005 outbreak in Ontario involving more than 648 cases of Salmonella linked to mung bean sprouts may have something to do with the newfound directness.

Fresh produce can sometimes be contaminated with harmful bacteria while in the field or during storage or handling. This is particularly a concern with sprouts. Many outbreaks of Salmonella and E. coli infections have been linked to contaminated sprouts.

Children, older adults, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to these bacteria and should not eat any raw sprouts at all. They should also avoid eating cooked sprouts unless they can be sure the sprouts have been thoroughly cooked.