Mmmhhh tasty pus on my lip!
The dairy industry spends a lot of money to persuade you, me, and everyone, to drink cow’s milk. ‘Be like a celeb and get the healthy goodness!’ Unfortunately, if you are buying milk from an industrially farmed, dairy herd then you are drinking up to 10% pus in every serving… Yum!
Cow’s udders produce lots of pus when their teets are infected (mastitis). This painful condition results from the unnatural stresses inflicted as part of the industrial system established to get everyone cheap milk. The EU has passed legislation to restrict the somatic cell count to 400,000 cells/Ml (i.e. roughly 10% pus). Milk in the USA is allowed to contain considerably more.
Aside from the fact that industrially rearing cattle is cruel and unnatural, the milk it produces is less healthy. The total protein content is decreased, the amounts of calcium, phosphorus and potassium content are decreased, the taste deteriorates (becomes bitter), and the levels of undesirable components rise. Mastitis is treated with antibiotics delivered directly into the udder. These drugs can also end up in the milk with negative health implications for humans. Mastitis occurs in around 50 % of cows in the UK.
- Health reasons why not to drink milk
- PETA on Cow’s Milk: A Cruel and Unhealthy Product
Alternatives:
- Milk from a local farm with happy cows. Find a farmer’s market here
- Buy milk from a Hare Krishna herd
- Buy organic milk which is better for you
- Reduce dairy consumption
Happy, healthy cows play in a field
Industrially reared cattle on a ranch in California (up to 100,000 head)
The Amazon Rainforest is being cleared for soya beans to feed cattle
Hayden Panettiere; likes dolphins... not cows...
