Liberals had a field day when a bureaucrat in Ronald Reagan’s administration tried to redefine ketchup as a vegetable.
Now, state Senator Darrel Aubertine wants to redefine what milk is.
Now, state Senator Darrel Aubertine wants to redefine what milk is.
And, according to farmers, he definitely thinks that it ain’t cheese.
Aubertine says his effort will help rescue dairy farmers from the current milk price crisis.
But farmers say it could put them out of business for good.
According
to the USDA, Jefferson County is hemorrhaging farms at a rate far
higher than the rest of Upstate NY. In its most recent Census of
Agriculture, the county lost 143 farms between 2002 and 2007. The
economics of farming have gotten worse since (even Sen. Aubertine got
out of the business).
Link: USDA
Aubertine’s
bill, S.2365, which he voted for last week, would ban a common
ingredient found in cheese from any product that is labeled as “dairy.”
The
NY Farm Bureau, which represents farmers, used remarkably strong
language to denounce Aubertine’s bill, saying it would decimate the
cheese-making industry, and dry up what is now one of the bright spots
for dairy farmers in finding markets for their milk.
“Our
concern would be that if this were to become law, cheese in New York
would not be considered a dairy product any longer,” said a spokesman.
The
implications of the bill are far-reaching. If cheese isn’t dairy, then
it wouldn’t qualify under the federally funded WIC program, which helps
poor families, women and children buy healthy food.
Besides the risk to children’s health, that would mean the end of another lucrative market for dairy farmers.
Through his spokesman, Aubertine dismisses the farmers’ concerns, but they’re not buying his position.
“We
respect the senator and feel his legislation is well intended but we
would oppose it… This (law) would not be beneficial to the industry in
New York State,” the farm spokesman said.
Valley News has the full scoop read here
33 comments:
PIV what you personally added to the Valley article does not even make sense and is simply wrong.
You said, "Now, state Senator Darrel Aubertine wants to redefine what milk is."
That statement does not even make sense and is not even addressed by the bill.
The concern addressed by the bill is that it should not be called a dairy product if it contains concentrates, caseins and caseinates other than those that occur naturally in the food (cheese).
If Senator Aubertine wanted to redefine milk, then he would be in FAVOR OF artificial cheese being called a dairy product and would not be concerned with warning consumers that they are not actually buying the real thing.
Casine, casenates, and Milk protien concentrates are all made from milk. What's the big deal.
Sounds like a special interest bill to pay back northern Jefferson farmers.
Holy cow!
Another hate Darrel post. Let me save all you all some time by recycling some of the same old comments from your previous hate Darrel posts.
Anonymous said...
I'm sure Darrel didn't do it. He doesn't do anything wrong, remember?
Anonymous said...
It's time to hire is sister again to cover this up.
Anonymous said...
Darrel should have accepted the gov's offer to head the NYPA. Then he wouldn't be in this mess. Not that Cuomo will do anything about it.
Anonymous said...
Why is Aubertine's secret dealings with the wind companies, to line his own pocket, any different than the insider deals the big energy companies cut with elected officials in Franklin County? Those deals were investigated by the AG and the local DA. AG Cuomo even announced settlement deals with the companies and a new "wind code of ethics" that Darrel, BP and Acconia have not yet signed. Is someone covering for Darrel, or is this ad a sign that another wind-shoe (windsock?) is about to drop on our State Senator?
Anonymous said...
Darrel stole my shoe.
Anonymous said...
WHAT A DAMM DISGRACE.
America’s dairy farmers already besieged with a chaotic national milk price structure, increasing concentration within the dairy industry, growing energy costs, corporate pressure to employ a questionable bovine growth hormone (rBGH). and the ever-present threat of foot and mouth disease are now being menaced by still another threat to their economic livelihood.
Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC) is today being widely used in the making of so-called cheese products, principally by Kraft, the nation’s largest cheese manufacturer, and Land O’Lakes. The general definition of MPC is a blend of dry dairy ingredients from 42% to 90% casein (pure dairy protein). The World Trade Organization (WTO) has two Harmonized Trade Schedule (HTS) numbers to designate MPC --- 04049 and 3501.
HTS04049 is made by ultra filtering skim milk, retaining anything the size of a protein or larger (bacteria, somatic cell, etc.) and then drying that to form a powder. With HTS 3501 proteins obtained in other ways can be added (i.e., casein). Neither of these two products are considered milk by the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) definitions.
"MPCs are cheaper than domestic forms of dairy proteins (farm milk, nonfat dry milk, etc.). Not manufactured in the U.S. MPC’s are added to cheese vats --- on the cheap yielding more end products with `savings' retained by the manufacturer," according to John Bunting, a Delaware County, New York dairy farmer. Traditionally, half of all U.S. milk is destined to go into cheese production.
Imported MPCs come from traditional dairy countries such as New Zealand, which provides the U.S. with 45% of its imports. Other countries importing MPC’s into the U.S. include Argentina, Poland, India, China and the Ukraine, home of the city of Chernobyl. Between 1996 and 2000 imports of MPCs into the U.S. increased by 400%.
Recently the USDA announced that it was scrapping plans to tighten restrictions on dairy imports posing a risk of foot-and-mouth disease. Any further restrictions on dairy imports will not take effect until a public comment process and publication of a final rule, USDA said May 4. European Union officials announced written confirmation of the decision.
The import restrictions would have primarily affected some European soft cheeses and products containing casein. Casein would have had to be treated at ultra-high temperatures needed to kill the FMD virus. Cheeses would have been required to be similarly treated or to have aged sufficiently to kill the virus.
Under U.S. law, using an ingredient not approved by the FDA is one form of food adulteration. FDA defines food additives as “all substances . . .the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result . . .in their becoming a component or food otherwise affecting the characteristic of food.”
MPC is a food additive without exemption. FDA has no standard for MPC. The FDA does not list MPC among food additives "Generally Regarded As Safe" (GRAS). Thus, using MPC in any human food constitutes adulteration, EXCEPT when individual manufacturers have followed exact costly and complex rules for properly self-determining unapproved food additives to be GRAS.
If a food manufacturer like Kraft, which has 56.8% of the nation's cheese market and 62.2% of the “American” cheese market, and Land O’Lakes completes a self-GRAS determination then use of MPC in a non-standard food would be legal. FDA’s GRAS self-determination rules require each food manufacturer using an unapproved food additive to conduct its own self-determination.
“As of late January, 2001,” Bunting notes, “no food manufacturer has voluntarily submitted any GRAS self-determination to the FDA. Nor has FDA reviewed any GRAS self-determinations by firms listing MPC in human foods. Don’t ask! Don’t tell!”
As Peter Hardin, editor and publisher of the authoritative monthly The Milkweed, who along with Bunting has done much of the investigation of MPC use in the U.S., shows “virtually EVERY Kraft processed `cheese’ product in the supermarket contains MPCs. Add up the Kraft products listing MPC as an ingredient: Cheez Whiz, Velveeta, the array of processed Singles products, Kraft emerges as a huge user of the 100-120 million pounds of MPCs that entered the U.S. in 1999. Kraft now spells processed cheese products `M-P-C’.”
Hardin also has demonstrated that certain claims about Kraft’s processed “cheese” products “appear to be less than truthful.” For example, Kraft uses the word “Cheez,” not cheese in Cheez Whiz, but still claims that Cheez Whiz is a “cheese dip.” And, he adds, “good luck finding cheese in Velveeta, a Pasteurized, Prepared Cheese Product.’
“Kraft has intentionally `dumbed down’ the quality and integrity of the “processed `cheese’ products by using MPC,” he adds. “But Kraft (and others) want more. The National Cheese Institute (NCI) has petitioned the FDA to allow ANY dairy ingredient (foreign or domestic) to be used in cheese manufacture. Kraft --- NCI’s largest member --- wants to make it legal for all cheese manufacturers to `dumb down’ all cheeses, processed, natural . . whatever. Why? Cheaper ingredients boost corporate profits.”
" But farmers say it could put them out of business for good."
Can you document that for us?
IV, do you and Libous/DeFrancisco's personal blogger over at NYDBalance even care what the facts are anymore?
Introduced by Sen. AUBERTINE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
labeling of products enhanced with milk protein concentrates, caseins,
or caseinates
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new
2 section 64 to read as follows:
3 § 64. Prohibition of milk protein concentrates, caseins, and casei-
4 nates. Any product that is enhanced with milk protein concentrates,
5 caseins, or caseinates, shall not be classified or labeled as a dairy
6 product.
7 § 2. Section 201 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by
8 adding a new subdivision 15 to read as follows:
9 15. If it contains milk protein concentrates, caseins and caseinates
10 other than those that occur naturally in the food and is labeled as a
11 dairy product.
12 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
13 have become a law.
ENHANCED...If some protein powder is thrown in my cheese instead of milk, it's not dairy.
Pretty much only Kraft and the brand that supplies Pizza Hut with its cheese even use these and they don't deserve to have their plastic-like cheese products considered Dairy, when they refuse to pay dairy farmers a decent price for a 100 weight.
IV's Motto: Save the Velveeta...Sure we all knew it wasn't really dairy, but God forbid we have some truth in labeling!
From October 2002 WDT...Hmmm...change of heart IV?
Jefferson County lawmakers will tonight consider a resolution of support for a federal bill to impose a tariff on imported milk protein concentrates, which are derived from milk, but classified in international trade agreements as a chemical.
Legislators are taking on the issue because they believe the unregulated import of MPCs has a direct link to the low price of milk because manufacturers use the milk derivatives instead of real milk.
Legislators Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, and Robert A. Boice, R- Rutland, worked with Mr. Reed to formulate the resolution which will first go before the Health and Human Services Committee tonight, then the full board on Nov. 6.
I remember when Granpa and I used to sit along the salmon River and eat cheese sandwiches while we fished. Then Senator Aubertine put all the cheese companies out of business,
Now grandfather and I can't eat cheese sandwiches together anymore.
JW
And Thanks to you know who you can't fish in the Salmon River.
"I remember when Granpa and I used to sit along the salmon River and eat cheese sandwiches while we fished."
Was that before or after you discovered you were actually eating wax?
BaaaaaWHAhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Scott, produce some names of some farmers or some kind of proof that farmers (and not the corp. co-ops) are up in arms about this.
Unfortunately RWiley with the first post is right.
You got off to a bad start on this one and are looking foolish with your claim of redefining what milk is. We need to present a better and more professional approach to local problems.
CL
There were farmers interviewed on the news last night. They aren't happy with Darrel. And Darrel did want to redefine what milk is. See his interview in the February 22 Syracuse post story.
I am a dairy farmer and I read the article from the Valley News and it doesn't make much sense why they are doing this. Traditionally products that were true dairy had what's called the "Real Seal" on it. I have money taken out of my milk check for Dairy Promotion that pays for the Real Seal Program, the Dairy Princess Program, and the Dairy Promotion Board. The unfortunate reality is that the consumers don't know the difference between sliced cheese and brick cheese unless you come from dairy country or are a farmer. I believe Darrell's bill is well meaning, but I don't believe it will have an impact on anything. If lawmakers' want to do something positive for farmers' it starts with creating a FAIR and HONEST market system for the sale of our milk. DFA, DMS, Agri-Mark, it doesn't matter which "farmer owned" milk co-op conglomerate you talk about, they all coordinate with each other to make sure they get milk to where it needs to go for the cheapest price and damn the farmer if they get paid what they deserve for it so long as the co-op execs get their salaries and the milk plants and retailers get their market share. The attitude is that there will always be another farm that wants to grow that will take the place of the small farm. Bigger is NOT better in agriculture. I want to be able to pay my taxes, pay my bills, and have $20 left over for pizza on Friday night and unless the fat cats in the middle are dealt with Jefferson Co, New York, and the U.S. as a whole will lose farms one by one and the importation of MPC's will be a mute point b/c the importation of food stuffs in general will become common practice.
8:07 Diaper Boy...
now that one was FUNNY.
You deserve an atta boy.
baaahaaaahahahahahaha or whatever it is
IV would rather Dairy farmers continue to suffer at the hands of processors who use unregulated MPCs, than to give any credit to Aubertine for acutually making noise about this issue and addressing it. For going on a decade now this one issue has been directly linked to family farms in northern new york going out of business. As Ag chair Aubertine has a chance to get this extremely helpful legislation passed for farmers and IV wants to crush it for purely political reasons.
Iv you are truly a scumbag.
As a dairy farmer and mother from Wisconsin, I see this as a good thing for everyone! We will all be able to really define the REAL CHEESE from the CHEEZ! It's about time that the wheelers and dealers of dairy products are called out! It will help the farmers and the consumers which equals a win-win situations for all involved!
I'm afraid that consumers are more interested in what's cheaper than in how "real" a product is. The only exception would be those who prefer organic to conventional. MPC's are a derivative of milk, how is that not real? Just because it's dried? What creates the problems for farmers in the US is how much MPC's are imported from other countries, i.e. Canada, which is required under NAFTA and other trade agreements. Anon 7:10 gives an excellent run down on the situation. As the Valley Article alluded to, Darrel's bill may be a moot point because of the federal trade regulations that I perviously reffered to. To define what is real compared to what is not, in my opinion, will have NO EFFECT on how much I am paid for my milk shipped unless the trade laws are adjusted so that no MPC's are imported and again that is a federal issue NOT a state issue. If someone from Sen. Aubertine's staff reads this blog and disagrees with me then, I challenge them to contact me and explain what this bill is and why he thinks it will do anything to help the dairy industry. At this point I see no benefit.
MPC's are a derivative of milk, how is that not real?
-----------------
Right John Peck. The perception that Aubertine is giving-- that MPC's are some chemical additive that's bad for us-- is not going to help the dairy industry at all. Whether the legislation passes or not, the industry is hurt because it leaves a question in the minds of the consumer as to what cheese and dairy products are made with. The damage has already been done. People are already questioning what cheese is made from and if it's filled with some harmful additives. Consumer confidence in food is already low. Now it stoops lower.
RWiley gets it right--finally. "redfining milk" makes no sense. So here's what cousin-boy told the Syracuse Post Standard:
"I've been a big proponent for years of coming up with a definition for milk. Define what milk is or is not."
Say cheese!
"So here's what cousin-boy told the Syracuse Post Standard:"
Assuming that you know what milk is now and always has been, the article you reference substantiates that the Senator is not re-defining milk but is sticking with the original stuff right from the udder.
read it carefully:
"I've been a big proponent for years of coming up with a definition for milk. Define what milk is or is not. It is not caseinates or Milk Protein Concentrate (proteins in milk often used instead of milk in the manufacture of dairy products). If you are going to use those products in the production of food, you shouldn't be able to call it dairy."
When you inject, "cousin-boy" I assume you meant that Darrel is your cousin, since he is not mine although I would be very proud of that if he were.....nice try, though, PIV.
Jefferson's Leaning Left
Artificial Cheese !!!
I believe RWiley fact check left off half of what the
Senator said in the PS article.
We are back to Wiley being right.
never confuse the Farm Bureau with what's good for farmers. they consistently lobby for the corporations while hiding behind the family farmer. they're nothing but the right wing of the agriculture industry. to see where they're really coming from you have to look at the American Farm Bureau Federation's policy book.
Darrel is right about this.
All I know is that I'm not buying any more cheese until there's a clear answer.
The senator is letting us know that milk and cheese and other dairy products aren't safe.
"Since he was first elected to the state Legislature as an Assemblyman, Sen. Aubertine has been fighting for dairy farmers to keep Milk Protein Concentrates, or MPCs, from reducing demand for real milk and make the public aware of legitimate concerns about the safety and nutritional value in MPCs and caseinates."
I applaud the senator for letting us know that we have been fooled by the dairy industry. I blame the farmers the producers and the politicians that all led us to believe dairy is safe.
No more dairy for this family until this becomes law. We have no way of knowing if its our local farmers or big corps trying to poison us but if it goes in glue its not going in my stomch.
RWiley proven a liar again. I'm beginning to see the light Richard.
The more blogs you administer the more you can lie.
I'll throw another monkey wrench in this discussion, is raw milk saw to drink and should it be allowed for sale directly from the farm??? I have been drinking raw milk my entire life. I am healthy, fit, and very rarely get sick because of the immunity I have developed from drinking pure unadulterated. So, as some health experts try to say, raw milk is dangerous and unhealthy. Mankind has consumed milk for centuries without pasturization, which is good in that it helps preserve the shelf-life of milk, but it is not neccessary to consume. On a final note, why in hell do we need a law defining WHAT THE HECK MILK IS? Doesn't the government and the ag committee have MORE IMPORTANT things to do in these hard times than debate what milk is or isn't??? This is asinine political posturing at its best and a waste of time since farmers' are paid based on the powdered milk market along with fluid, cheese, etc. Show me the proof how this will help and I will support it.
i completely agree that raw milk should be legal. i know it's legal in parts of europe, at least. and it's the most delicious form of milk, to boot!
It's sad that we can't trust our farmer's anymore. I see in the Post that our cheese has the same stuff in it as glue.
I hope the schools stop serving cheese to our kids until this becomes a law. I am calling my school district first thing in the morning.
Thank you Senator Aubtertine for bringing this forward.
There will be no more cheese in my household until we get proper labeling and then we can have a choice if we want to fill our kids with glue.
Screw the NYS farmer. If we can make cheese cheaper from China dry stuff I am all for it. The greed catches up with the likes of NY farmers and Dareel, Darel and Darell.
You are right PIV
RWiley and Real Cheese won this one.
If Wiley wants real cheese then I support Wiley. On this one anyway.
The rest I don't understand.
Why is it so many of these things I don't understand?
Donthca just look on the label or through the plastic and see if its cheese? If it says cheese food then it ain't cheese. If it says cheese, buy it. Or are we talking about packaged stuff?
I buy most of my cheese at the diner anyway. They read the label for me.
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