Reply With Quote
and rebuttal
Reason for skepticism
Ron Erskine, a professor at Michigan State University (Fabbs here. I discount any teaching staff from Michigan State. See Larry Nassar and all related coverup) who’s spent his career studying antibiotics in dairy cattle and milk, says he’s wary of the study’s results because the method wasn’t FDA approved and the results lacked a normal distribution curve, which is important in providing a good average.
Before a milk tanker is unloaded for processing, an FDA-approved inhibition test analyzes a sample of the milk, Erskine said. If the sample tests positive for antibiotic levels over the FDA limit, the tanker is immediately dumped.
However, the Emory study used high-performance liquid chromatography, or HPLC, instead of the FDA-approved inhibition test. Erskine said the proteins and fats in milk make it very difficult for HPLC to provide accurate results when testing for chemicals at such low levels.
Additionally, many of the samples tested below the level of detection for HPLC, the Emory study says. For the samples that tested below 1 ng/mL, a value of 0.5 ng/mL was assigned, or half the detection level.
Erskine said this can skew results, as the chemical levels could have been much lower or higher than the halfway point. For example, the median level of amoxicillin recorded was less than 1 part per billion – or less than 10% of the FDA tolerance level.
“Limits of detection exist for any kind of analysis,” Erskin said. “Once you get below that, the reliability of that test really starts to decline.”
Stacking up relatable studies
From October 2016 through September 2017, the Food and Drug Administration collected about 3.8 million samples from milk trucks. Of these, about 0.02% tested positive for drug residues, according to a 2018 report.
Jonker said the milk from these trucks would be discarded and the producer potentially fined based on the number of positive tests. If the farmer's milk products continually test positive, their license to sell milk could be revoked.
The FDA conducted a similar study in 2015, in which they collected samples from about 1900 dairy farms and tested them for 31 different drugs. Fifteen of the milk samples, or less than 1%, contained drug residues.
The Organic Center's Shade and Emory's Welsh said there needs to be further research to see how chronic, low levels of antibiotics, pesticides and hormones impact health in the long term.
"It's not like we see people that drink conventional milk having a lot of health problems," Welsh said. "People drinking milk – period – are healthier. We see some differences, but they're minimal."
