As the mainstream media grab hold of a story to sensationalise the alleged dangers of raw milk, and attempt to terrify anybody who may have considered buying or drinking it, I have been researching the story online myself, trying to discover some actual FACTS.
I read 63 news reports, blog articles and press releases. The press releases were vague and many TV stations and newspapers simply quoted the standard press release that was issued to everyone, so I really had to dig to find some details.
The headline reads 'Toddler dies after drinking bath milk'.
The story goes that in mid December, a three year old child died 'after drinking bath milk'. Apparently 4 other young children also became ill 'after drinking bath milk' from the same dairy farm in Victoria.
By law the dairies that sell this product must add warnings to the label advising people that bath milk is not for drinking. This particular dairy did abide by that law.
I watched the follow-up stories on the news tonight.
1. Did the story explain to us how the child died or how the other children became ill? No.
What they stated a number of times, was that the child 'died after drinking bath milk' ... leading us to believe that it was the bath milk that caused the death and illnesses.
2. Did the reporter tell us about any tests conducted on the bath milk or the dairy farm from which it came, to confirm that it was actually the bath milk that caused the death? No.
In actual fact, I discovered that health officials have conducted tests on site at the dairy in question and all of their products have passed with a clean bill of health. No diseases. No stray bacteria.
Of course the media can't add that information to the story .. not sensational enough.
3. Did the reporter give us the name of the illness that made the children ill? No.
They interviewed 'somebody' who touted the terrible dangers of raw milk and the disease causing bacteria that lurk within it, leading us to assume that the bacteria was indeed in the milk that the children drank ... which, as I've already mentioned, is not the case.
The only facts that I could find, stated that 3 of the children (and we don't know which three) contracted Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (despite Fairfax media describing it as a fatal disease, it is NOT normally fatal), which can be caused by contaminated meat or produce (but not the produce, in this case, as proven by the health officials) or it can be contracted in swimming pools or lakes where human or animal faeces is commonly found, or it can also follow infections from other bacteria.
It can be caused by certain medications AND it can be genetic .. that is .. passed down from your parents.
4. Did the reporter give us any details about the children or their state of health prior to drinking the bath milk? No.
So the only facts that the report actually gave us was that a toddler died after drinking bath milk.
The rest of the story was manipulated leading us to the conclusion that the bath milk was full of a disease causing bacteria that killed a toddler and made four others sick and that the dairy farm in Victoria was responsible.
It made us believe that Raw milk was extremely dangerous and that there is a growing 'mob' of health buffs who are attempting to manipulate the general public into believing that raw milk has health benefits.
We still have no idea what actually caused the child's death.
It's a very good example of how the media can take a tiny bit of information and expand on it to sensationalise and frighten the public into believing something that isn't actually true.
If they can do that with something as simple as milk, just imagine the havoc they are causing elsewhere.
Nite all.
