It might be suggested that Dr. Robert Cohen picked a
slightly alarmist title for his book,
Milk, the Deadly Poison, published in 1997. The premise of the book is not so much that milk
qua milk is bad for you (although it is noted that the consumption of milk into adulthood is a fairly unnatural thing, not known to prehistoric humans, and that equally unnatural is the drinking of milk produced by animals outside ones own
species), but the main thrust of the book is on the more modern problem of
hormones and
antibiotics and other questionable chemicals being introduced into the milk supply in vastly increased amounts, primarily through the treatment of
cows with such things, but as well through the introduction of some materials directly into the product.
Equally problematic, the author suggests, is the role of milk-producing
corporations in getting
government to fuel public desire for milk consumption. Cohen terrifies readers with tale after tale of the
dairy industry's success in not only having its products promoted, but in lobbying and leveraging legislators to pass lax laws governing what exactly goes into the milk -- especially, he contends, following the
Monsanto company's successful development of methods of massively increasing dairy productivity, resulting in a glutted milk market which could only maintain its
profitability through continuously expanding the market. Dr. Cohen does give some consideration as well to the plight of the overworked, tender-nippled milk cow.
This book may come across as being a bit over the top, and it may not dissuade
habitual milk drinkers from their daily dairy dosages. But if nothing else, it is surely
food for thought.
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