to see a related statement from NMPF. And to see talking points from Dairy Management, Inc. that you can use when speaking with consumers. Plus, check out this blog post from Brenda Hastings in Ohio about what the FDA's plan would mean for the nation's dairy farmers. New York Times articleEach year, federal inspectors find illegal levels of antibiotics in hundreds of older dairy cows bound for the slaughterhouse. Concerned that those antibiotics might also be contaminating the milk Americans drink, the Food and Drug Administration intended to begin tests this month on the milk from farms that had repeatedly sold cows tainted by drug residue.

But the testing plan met with fierce protest from the dairy industry, which said that it could force farmers to needlessly dump millions of gallons of milk while they waited for test results. Industry officials and state regulators said the testing program was poorly conceived and could lead to costly recalls that could be avoided with a better plan for testing.

In response, the FDA postponed the testing, and now the two sides are sparring over how much danger the antibiotics pose and the best way to ensure that the drugs do not end up in the milk supply.

“What has been served up, up to this point, by Food and Drug has been potentially very damaging to innocent dairy farmers,” said John J. Wilson, a senior vice president for Dairy Farmers of America, the nation’s largest dairy cooperative. He said that that the nation’s milk was safe and that there was little reason to think that the slaughterhouse findings would be replicated in tests of the milk supply.

But food safety advocates said that the FDA’s preliminary findings raised issues about the possible overuse of antibiotics in livestock, which many fear could undermine the effectiveness of drugs to combat human illnesses.

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“Consumers certainly don’t want to be taking small amounts of drugs every time they drink milk,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group. “They want products that are appropriately managed to ensure those drug residues aren’t there, and the dairy farmer is the one who can control that.”

The FDA said that it would confer with the industry before deciding how to proceed. “The agency remains committed to gathering the information necessary to address its concern with respect to this important potential public health issue,” it said in a statement.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Statement from NMPF

The dairy industry is committed to providing safe and wholesome milk to consumers. The nation’s 55,000 dairy farmers have a strong track record of compliance with state and federal regulations, and support education and enforcement efforts to further strengthen that record.

It’s important to clarify that the dairy industry is cooperating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We are pleased that the agency recently agreed to take additional time to collect input and review the proposed scope and methodology of the testing plan.

FDA has repeatedly expressed its confidence in the safety of the U.S. milk supply, stating, “Efforts such as this sampling assignment will ensure that any problem that may exist remains minor and is quickly mitigated by education and enforcement, as appropriate. FDA is targeting the few members (tissue residue violators) of an otherwise compliant industry in order to ensure that the public can have the utmost confidence in the dairy products they consume.”

The U.S. milk industry has an exemplary record concerning management of antibiotics. Under a comprehensive program administered by the state regulatory authorities and overseen by FDA, the U.S. dairy industry conducts nearly 4 million tests each year to ensure that antibiotics are kept out of the milk supply. For example in 2009, only .028% tested positive, and in those very rare cases, the milk is not sold to the public.

—From NMPF news release

Talking points from DMI

We encourage you to reassure your online followers about the safety of the milk you produce through post and status updates. The talking points below can be incorporated into your messages. Remember to include your own personal examples.

  • Our farm is committed to providing safe and wholesome milk to consumers.
  • We, along with the nation’s 55,000 dairy producers have a strong track record for compliance with state and federal regulations, and support education and enforcement efforts to further strengthen that record.
  • FDA has described this as a very limited program that just looks at a small subset of farms that had previous violations.
  • As a dairy farmer, I am very careful about how and when I use antibiotics.
  • Sometimes it’s necessary for farmers to treat cows with antibiotics when they are ill, just as humans sometimes need medication when they are sick. A cow being treated for illness is separated from the milking herd to ensure its milk does not go into the milk supply.
  • All milk is strictly tested for antibiotics on the farm and at the processing plant. Any milk that tests positive for antibiotics cannot be sold to the public.

—From MyDairy eblast