Senator Jason Schultz R-Schleswig is such a comedian. Recently, in voting to remove the decade’s-long safeguards of pasteurized milk sold in Iowa, he said, “Senate File 315 is the fresh milk, the freedom milk bill I call it…and I have been waiting actually 17 years to say, ‘Madame President, I mooove the Senate concur….’” After his fellow clowns stopped laughing, they did concur, joining the jokers in the House who also voted against milk safety.
What are some of the benefits of “freedom milk”? According to the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Veterinary Medicine Association, the National Association of State Public Health, the Iowa Public Health Association, the Iowa Dairy Association and the Iowa Farm Bureau, unpasteurized milk can make you and your family sick or even die.
Rep. Megan Srinivas D-Des Moines, also an infectious disease physician warns against the dangers of raw milk, noting she has treated many children who suffered from the effects of bacteria in raw milk. She said, “It’s one thing if it’s an adult choosing what milk that they’re consuming, but when we have children who are falling victim because they are given milk that can make them sick, have permanent or even lethal ramifications, that’s where I get concerned.”
According to the CDC, bacteria in raw milk can result in scarlet fever, typhoid fever or Guillain-Barre syndrome which can cause paralysis. It can host brucellosis, leading to tuberculosis. Raw milk can harbor dangerous pathogens like salmonella, campylobacter and Listeria. Senior citizens, young children, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems are particularly vulnerable.
Rep. Bobby Kaufmann R-Wilton, a sponsor of the poison milk amendment argued, “Literally anyone that has those concerns, they don’t have to buy it.”
In one simple stroke of genius, Mr. Kaufmann has settled all questions of public health and safety. Whenever there is a danger, just don’t do it! Worried about lead paint chips? It’s your choice. Don’t eat them! Afraid of crime down town? Don’t go there. Concerned about frayed electrical wires in your apartment? Don’t touch them. All those woke wimps working at the EPA, FDA, OSHA, FAA etc. can quit and go get real jobs and stop telling us what to do. And let us enjoy our bacteria-infested freedom milk.
Kaufmann defended the milk deregulation saying humans had been drinking unpasteurized milk thousands of years ago. (Yeah, and they’re all dead now.)
Since the House and Senate passed it, the raw milk bill only requires the governor’s signature to make it law. Of course, Kim Reynolds would never pass up an opportunity to put Iowans at risk. It has been her mission to make living in Iowa an extreme sport. Highway signs will read: “Welcome to Iowa–Covid, Concealed Weapons, E. Coli: it’s your choice”.