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The Truth About Pus In Milk.

pus in milk

Today I came across a meme that advocated that a glass of milk contains 135 Million “pus cells!” Pus in milk? That’s gross!

My BS detection instinct woke up. I smell something fishy here. I decided to investigate.

And I got good news! There’s no pus in milk. There are of course white blood cells – but let’s not confuse lymphocytes with the word pus or the term “pus cells.” (There is no scientific term “pus cells.”)

I don’t know who first started the “pus in milk” campaign (see this and this), but PETA has definitely been involved in its spread. From PETA’s website:

As in humans, white blood cells—also known as “pus”—are produced as a means of combating infection.

Notice that they equate white blood cells with pus. What a clever tactic to scare and gross you out. Pus contains much more than simply white blood cells. There are dead neutrophils present, live neutrophils, dead tissue cells, proteins, and dead microorganisms (e.g., bacteria) in pus. It’s simply wrong to use the term pus and white blood cells interchangeably because they are not the same thing.

We use the word pus when an infection is present not in the absence of it. We don’t use the word pus to describe alive and well and at normal levels white blood cells. A simple search for the definition of the word pus and we get “a thick yellowish or greenish opaque liquid produced in infected tissue, consisting of dead white blood cells and bacteria with tissue debris and serum.

Pus in milk is not the same thing as white blood cells in milk.

Neither organic nor conventional milk contains pus, but they both contain white blood cells, and they both need to pass the same regulations to be marked safe for consumption and reach the store.

Your blood, my blood, a cow’s blood contains white blood cells – you know that, right? White blood cells are the ones who come to our rescue when an infection appears. So just like they hang out in our blood they hang out in milk too. Human breastmilk contains white blood cells. Same for cow’s milk as well.

There’s a specific term used to monitor white blood cells in cow’s milk: Somatic Cell Count (SCC) or bulk-tank somatic cell counts (BTSCCs) .

  • High SCCs may mean the cow has an infection – most likely mastitis. In that case, her milk is thrown out. High SCCs may also act as a red flag for antibiotic residue violation (milk with antibiotic residues is also thrown out.)
  • Low SCCs make the milk of higher quality and hence farmers get paid more. Low SCC is correlated with higher cheese yield and better shelf life for pasteurized milk.

Farmers have a strong financial incentive to keep their cows healthy and free from infection. Yes, farmers get paid more for better quality milk, but also there are strong penalties should their milk fail the regulations. According to the USDA farmers may even get their permit suspended if their milk is repeatedly shown to contain above the limit BTSCC.

The maximum BTSCC may differ from state to state but can never be higher than 750,000 cells/mL in the USA or the more common 400,000 cells/mL in Europe. US farms usually aim for a count lower than 200,000 cells/mL and about 95% of milk in the US has a count of fewer than 400,000 cells/mL (source: USDA.)

Does a glass of milk contain 135 Million “pus cells?”

pus in milk

Say I wanted to discourage breastfeeding, human breastfeeding. What if I started referring to the white blood cells naturally found in human breastmilk as “pus?” I would make headway using this (false) argument. Who really wants to feed pus to their newborns? Exactly.

Now back to the claim that a glass of milk has 135 million “pus cells.” Is that really true? Or is this another attempt to mislead you? Let’s break it down.

First, there’s no such thing as a “pus cell.” (This is actually what first alerted my BS detectors!)

However, there are white blood cells naturally found in milk. One glass of milk includes about 250 mL. So a total of 135 Million white blood cells would give us 135M/250 = 540,000 white blood cells/mL, which is lower than the legal limit of 750,000 cells/mL.

I don’t know where the 135 Million figure comes from, but even with that figure milk is still fine and within limits. In fact, the USDA reports that: “In 2013, during all months monitored, BTSCCs in 95.6 percent of milk produced were below 400,000 cells/mL.” So the real number for the USA is not even 135 M. It should be lower than 250×400,000= 100 Million white blood cells.

Yet milk is presented to you as if it’s gross.

What’s the agenda of the source of your information?

While some vegans try to push you off milk, other parties have different agendas. For example, raw milk proponents present the fact that there are living white blood cells in raw milk as a good thing! Pasteurization, you see, kills white blood cells anyway. From the Mises Institute in their article to legalize raw milk:

Raw milk is more nutritious than pasteurized milk. Raw milk has living white blood cells, mammary-gland cells, various bacteria (i.e., probiotics), and several active enzymes, which are all destroyed in pasteurization.

I’m not a raw milk proponent, because raw milk can kill you and is not worth the risk. However, I needed to show this example to illustrate how the same fact – that milk contains white blood cells – can be depicted in a positive or negative light depending on each party’s agenda. Vegan fanatics want to kill animal agriculture (note: not all vegans are fanatics.) The Mises Institute wants to legalize raw milk. Well…

The verdict: Pus in milk should not play a role in your decision to drink or not to drink milk.

I’ve previously written about faulty reasons to stop drinking milk. Well, “pus in milk” is another bad one. In my opinion, you may choose to drink or not drink milk based on multiple factors ranging from lactose intolerance, to religion, to personal preference – just to name a few. But “presence of pus” should not be the determining factor in your choice of whether to include milk in your diet or not.

Now leave a comment: Had you encountered the “pus in milk” claim before? Did it affect your decision to drink or not drink milk?

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  1. Great post Maria. I recently just started hearing people reference this too, and immediately thought, someone must be trying to “stir up” again. So glad to see your post and appreciate your taking the time to explain the real picture. Timely, and well said as usual. I’m enjoying your post!
    Jona

    1. It is not a myth. I see the dairy industry is busy paying people to lie for them…you know, like their billboards with pictures of happy cows out in the pastures and a little calf running alongside. More bullshit than a rational human should ever swallow. Dairy cows rarely see grass or the sun until they are bulldozed into a dump truck to carry them to slaughter. Dairy cows NEVER get to touch, nuzzle, or feed their calves. Try cashew milk. Nothing dies and it’s better than dairy both in taste and nutrition.

    2. “It is not a myth.” Pus in milk IS a myth, and this article exposes it for the dishonest, sensationalized spin that it is. “I see the dairy industry is busy paying people to lie for them. . . ” What an intellectually lazy cliché comment and crude attempt at censorship.

      The way you and the rest of the animal rights gestapo display your food morality pretensions reminds me of the fashion pretensions of the citizens of the Capital District in the Hunger Games movies — a cartoonish display of privilege and excess so divorced from any sense of practicality and reality.

    3. So where do you think the pus that drips from mastitis in cows goes? They don’t take of injuries to their milk spigots and they don’t bother NOT milking cows until they heal either. Use the two brain cells you got to figure out what happens to the pus. And blood, and piss, and feces. You’re ignorant.

    4. Couldn’t stand not getting the last word, eh. Cheryl, I am sorry, but you will never convince me of some horrible health hazards lurking in milk. I grew up on a farm where we had a cow for our milk and I was at one time married to the daughter of a milk producer. You are not entitled to an assumption that dairy producers are callous and greedy, or that you are of some higher morality.

      I think you are motivated by an animal welfare ideology and you find utility in advocating that agenda in hyperbolizing supposed dangers and inciting disgust reactions. “. . . the pus that drips from mastitis in cows . . . ” Pus does not drip from mastitis but that is a convenient imagery for you isn’t it, Cheryl. Your ideology is so strong that I cannot concede that you are objective observer nor do I concede any moral superiority to you in your attempts to disparage milk and milk producers. I will not substitute your propaganda for the knowledge that Americans can consume milk and dairy products with a very high degree of confidence that they are consuming a safe and nutritionally valuable component of their diet.

    5. 8 months and that is what you come up with?

      Guess what, between my wife and I, we consume probably 5-6 gallons of milk a month, either directly as a beverage or as an ingredient in recipes, so I have purchased 40-50 gallons of milk since I posted that comment. Plus when I eat out I typically ask for milk adding maybe another half gallon of milk consumption a month, and that does not count milk in other dairy items like cheese and ice cream. My milk consumption habits have not changed my entire life other than more or less abandoning pop and substituting milk for a beverage when I eat out. I am healthy, active, trim, have always had excellent blood pressure (just had it checked last week). Tonite, I will pour myself a nice big glass of milk, thank our nation’s dairy farmers, and then toast in your honor.

      “I bet you voted for tRump too.” Wrong again. Your arrogance is boundless. Please, my profile is not private. I invite you to read my comments about Trump and see how ignorant your petty little attempt at insult was.

    6. So Rick when you’re not drinking a ton of milk which is obtained through animal cruelty you’re insulting people harshly on the internet? You seem to just be inflicting pain and suffering on everyone, pretty worthless aren’t you?

    7. If you have an addiction to drinking a substance that was designed to feed young baby calves then you haven’t been weaned. Do you still desire to drink from your mother’s breast too, or were you deprived of that benefit? Lol

    8. Somatic cell counts is the number oif white blood cells… Pus consists of a buildup of dead leukocytes (white blood cells) from the body’s immune system in response to infection… that is what is found on cows milk….

    9. This article is yet another form of disinformation. It’s clear through ACTUAL RESEARCH. Dairy in general is capable of spreading numerous bacterial diseases( let’s not forget antibiotics and vaccines pumped into these animals) THERE is nothing natural about mass produced dairy. Stop misinforming the public with your shitty sources. There are PLENTY of actual HEALTH reasons to quit dairy outside of your frankly dumbass reasons.

    10. You only need a basic gcse in biology to know that you’re wrong. You find information that you want to her and publish it as fact.

  2. I’ve seen that claim. It is often accompanied by also describing milk as an “excretion” to further try to provoke a disgust response (of course honey, excretion of bees, is exempt). There is also the argument that no other animal consumes milk past the infant stage, therefore there has just got to be something unnatural, and thus suspect harmful or at least nutritionally pointless, about humans consuming milk throughout their lives right (and from another species to boot “oh my”).
    Thanks for reminding me that I’m out of bovine excretions and I need to pick some up.

    1. Milk is an excretion. Breast milk from another species is NOT consumed by any other species but man and is unnecessary for growth or health for humans from infancy to old age.

    2. Cheryl — This is not a debate. Milk is a healthy and sensible dietary element. All of your points (milk is an excretion, utilizing milk is unique to humans, there are alternatives) are immaterial spin. I do not have to defend my choice to make milk a regular component of my nutritional regimen. And I double down on my endorsement of the points made in this article. Groups that misrepresent that milk is full of pus need to be accountable for polluting the public discourse with such an obvious, sensationalized distortion.

    3. No, it is not healthy as shown by current peer reviewed research,, it is very VERY unhealthy. there is indeed pus in milk and up to date research shows it is unhealthy for a wide arrays of reasons… hormones (both naturally occurring and artificial), the somatic cell counts (PUS), the acidity of the calcium from dairy that bonds forming hollow bones (osteoporosis) and more

    4. Sigler — I think it is pointless for you and I to discuss this. I am very unlikely to accept that you are an objective arbiter of the information there is about milk and its nutritional value and any risks associated with consumption and you are going to dismiss me of being an industry mouthpiece or apologist. I am not a nutritionist, but I am familiar with some of the research you are probably referring to, but also criticisms of that research. To represent that it is accepted or even emerging scientific wisdom that science is discovering that milk is this terrible poison hardly represents the consensus, responsible understandings of the nutritional community and also contradicts my personal experience as a regular consumer of milk and milk products. Milk as part of a diet of variety and moderation is a sensible, nutritionally beneficial, and delicious addition to my culinary habits. I don’t have to justify it to you.

    5. You start your comment stating that no amount of evidence will change your mind (or is “unlikely” based on your “familiarity” with the research I refer to and the critics to it. That last part is kinda funny because the research (plural) contained in the national library of medicine that links dairy to osteoporosis ONLY critics so far is researchers sponsored by the dairy industry and dairy supporters. Then you go on to mention your personal experience. given your verbiage, you should be aware that annecdotal experience is below useless in the context of evidence (except for court of justice which is the only instance in which it holds any value). Lastly I must say that you DO have to justify, you posted a blog article with no evidence to support your claim.The best part even put a veredict… so you are jury, judge and executioner without having ANY evidence to support your claim. You do need to justify your claim because people follow your nutrition advise even when there is no qualifications listed on your profile. You stamp science in many of your articles but fail to provide scientifically relevant references… and, yes, people should know better than to follow health and dietary advise from someone who, I will not say has no qualifications, but I can say does not list her qualifications. That’s like following medical advise from the the cashier at your farmers market. You are giving unethical advise in regards of health and you should own that. I am not saying you do it with evil intents, not at all… I have no reason to not think you are doing this with the best intentions in the world; but, far from giving honest and evidence based opinions, you are, as clearly seen by this blog article, giving your misinformed and biased opinion. And about the deliciousness of it, semenology claims to be also full of delicious recipes but I am sure as hell I don’t want to cook with semen…. and it doesn’t even contain pus.

    6. “Lastly I must say that you DO have to justify, you posted a blog article with no evidence to support your claim.”

      I did not post a blog article. I am not the author of this article, I only participated as a commenter. Are you making the accusation that I am really the author of this article posting comments under a pseudonym? If so, why do you feel entitled to make that allegation and since you made the accusation, why is it not your burden of proof.

      “so you are jury, judge and executioner without having ANY evidence to support your claim.”

      I am absolutely jury, judge and executioner of my personal dietary choices and what weight and credibility I give to nutritional or health claims that you, this author, the dairy association, any vegetarian or animal welfare advocacy group, or any other person or group makes. I am will likely remain skeptical of peer reviewed research generated by or as interpreted by any group that I believe has an ideological bias. You can say, follow the money, but I think we get just as skewed a picture when you follow the ideology.

      Look, here is where I land on milk or about any other food. No, milk is not dangerous and in fact is quite safe to drink from a food safety perspective. I am generally skeptical about alarming claims of adverse consequences of short or long-term consumption of milk or any other food item. Much of the “peer reviewed” literature finding alarming health impacts of milk originates from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine which I do not accept as an objective arbiter of information regarding risks of drinking milk. I generally believe including milk as part of an overall diet of variety and moderation is an excellent source of nutrition your body needs. I would agree milk is not, and should not be, the only source of the nutrition it provides, and perhaps people could get the nutritional requirements milk provides from other sources, but that does not mean milk is not a quality source. I would also agree that beyond moderate consumption, you probably reach a point of diminishing returns and potentially, there could be adverse health consequences of excessive milk consumption. But, you could say the same thing about any food item, including any dairy substitute such as soymilk or the walnut milk Cheryl recommends in her comment.

      Here are a couple of articles and sources that I think lay out a reasoned understanding of the role of milk in meeting our nutritional needs and how the consumption of milk interrelates to osteoporosis risk. One of the items is a pro-con website and lists lots of studies that supposedly support claims of either health benefits or detriment from milk consumption.

      https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/calcium-full-story/:

      http://milk.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001317

      http://www.bing.com/search?q=milk+osteoporosis&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IENTSR
      I probably average maybe two servings of milk a day. I drink a small glass nearly every morning and probably get another serving in my consumption of cheese, butter and other dairy products throughout the day. I am quite comfortable that my dairy consumption habits are consistent with a nutritionally sound diet and contribute to my overall wellbeing. I have not experienced any serious health issue, acute or chronic, I am thin and active, with absolutely no health restrictions stopping me from doing things I like other than declining stamina that comes with age. I did not claim that that is anything but anecdotal evidence relevant to scientific understanding, but still, it is a data that is very relevant to me and my personal decisions. I am comfortable that my choice to consume milk in moderation is quite rational and informed. Also, I have no personal financial or career stake in the financial wellbeing of the dairy industry. But I will proudly defend dairy farmers against defamation.

    7. I apologize if it came directed towrds you that you were the author since I posted it as a reply to Maria B., the author.
      I read your reply and your skepticism of peer reviewed evidence is interesting, you decide you will not accept the authority of the following:
      Division of Public Health Sciences,
      Faculty of Life Sciences, Animal Sciences Research Group, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK.
      Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Iran
      Food and Beverages Safety Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
      Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

      These are a few examples of authorities that have researched and concluded several hazards for the health derived from dairy. Yet, you trust milk.procon.org ???? really? Whether you want to believe it or not, the facts are in and they are piling on the cons side of the balance….Here are the references for review:

      Hormones in Dairy Foods and Their Impact on Public Health – A Narrative Review Article; Hassan MALEKINEJAD1,2 and Aysa REZABAKHSH3,*

      Dairy and Cardiovascular Disease: A Review of Recent Observational Research; Beth H.

      J Am Coll Nutr. 2011 Oct;30(5 Suppl 1):464S-70S.; Dairy products and cancer.; Lampe JW1.

      Milk and meat in our diet: good or bad for health?; Givens DI1.

      Dairy products in the food chain: their impact on health.; Kliem KE1, Givens DI.

    8. People have definitely been brainwashed to drink milk from cows, that was made only for their calves, by the way. We have been told a lot of bullshit about why we need to drink milk from another species. We stop drinking milk from our mothers after we have been weaned, so why should we drink milk from another species? We are told we need it for strong bones, but why do I have strong bones when I consumed well under what is recommended for my age and sex? I finally stopped drinking cows’ milk at home and I noticed a big health bonus as the eczema I had been suffering from since I was a child cleared up! Why didn’t my doctors ever tell me to remove dairy products from my diet, instead of giving me useless corticosteroid creams?

    9. Cheryl, let’s just leave it at that. I place absolute zero value in your opinion and I doubt either one of us will convince the other. I will continue to drink milk and you can continue congratulating yourself how superior you are. I know dairy farmers, was at one time married to the daughter of a dairy Farmer, and I have only known them to to be honest, modest people of high moral character. You will never convince me you have a right to judge them. I don’t like you, I despise your hyperethic arrogance, and I am confident I don’t have to concede an inch of moral or intellectual high ground to you. You are not a victom here
      You have been the aggressor. You have been insulting, arrogant and condescending. I will continue to drink milk as part of an overall diet of variety and moderation. If you think you need the last word, be my guest, but I will not waste anymore time on you.

    10. Rick you are wrong i’m afraid, I used to drink a lot of milk but been Vegan over a month now, what made me go Vegan is I stopped putting it off as some hippie conspiracy and did the research without a self interested, biased viewpoint. Dairy is not good for you, whether it has pus in it or not it definitely has growth hormones in it since it’s for baby cows, not to mention saturated fat and cholesterol and no it is not natural for humans to drink it at all.

    11. I just reread my comment to you and you are totally wrong with your attitude to me. As the saying goes, “You can’t teach stupid”!

    12. You don’t like me for telling you the facts? What an ignorant person you are! I don’t like you either, so we are even but I had every right to give my honest opinion to this discussion! You come across as a very arrogant and undesirable person!

    13. What? How have I been an aggressor? I’m just telling you the facts and nothing more, unlike you who is in denial to the facts!

    14. Probably because they didn’t know some people don’t tolerate dairy as well as others. Sorry your eating patterns and genetic predisposition has left you with a bad case of leaky gut syndrome, but thankful that mine hasn’t.

    15. There is nothing healthy about dairy. You are living in the land of the brain washed. Cow’s milk contains, and is allowed to contain, blood, pus, urine, feces, hair plus it brings zero health benefits to humans. Try facts and stop trying to appear knowledgeable. Frankly, I find anyone who is willing to imprison, rape, assault, participate in infanticide and cause early brutal death to these gentle animals to be beneath contempt.

    16. How do you know you aren’t the one in the land of the brainwashed? The prime feature of brainwashing is that the subject does not think that they are.

    17. You are sick. How many dairy farms have you personally visited, Cheryl? How many dairy farmers have you actually spoken with personally? I’ll wait.

    18. Dairy causes inflammation in the body. If you cut out dairy just for two weeks, you’d realize this. Put the animal rights aspect aside. You are consuming hormones from a lactating female meant to progress growth. Throughout my life, my body always had a lot of inflammation. I had warts on my hand, styes, developed terrible acne from about 13-19, always felt lethargic and sick always had sinus problems and lots of mucus. I was 19 when I begun getting tested for auto immune disorders. I had cystic acne and would develop styes on a weekly basis. I asked my doctors if it could be anything with my nutrition. They assured me it wasn’t and that I was healthy and young and I was given topical ointments, antibiotics and Prednisone. I was 19 and maybe 105 lbs, shouldn’t have been on such an intense steroid. It was a bandaid because I would be cured while on it and everything would go back when I got off it. Not only that, I had so many symptoms from the prednisone, it was causing more problems. I’m not sure how I stumbled on the milk/inflammation link, but I decided to cut it out. Within weeks all of my symptoms went away. That was 8 years ago and anytime I become lax and have some dairy, the symptoms return. During this last flu season, I visited my parents for Christmas. 9/10 of the people in the house caught the flu from each other. I didn’t. My immune system is so much stronger without dairy. I think it’s been two years since I’ve even had a cold. The reason I came across this article is because yesterday, the meal I was making called for Greek yogurt. I was reluctant, but I only used half the amount and figured it should be fine. This morning I woke up to congestion, my eyes had this greenish yellow gunk matting them up and were watery. My body was inflamed. They’ve done autopsies of people that abstain from dairy vs someone that had had cheese hours prior to death and the mucus in the latter was much more prevalent. I don’t have the links on me currently, but the research is out there. Before you write me off as a sole case, I have a childhood friend who would get migraines from the ages of 5-25. She cut out dairy and her migraines stopped. Everyone that I’ve recommended to cut dairy out to have seen improvement. It really is as simple as just trying, instead of being stubborn and skeptical. I’ve tried both ways, if you haven’t, you can’t say which way is better. I know this is an old thread and I posted this as a stand alone comment already, but this also works as a direct response to what you’re saying.

    19. Although I agree that it is gross, unhealthy and unnecessary… your comment is not entirely true. There are many recorded cases of inter species breastfeeding… such as a female dg breastfeeding abandoned kittens, cows feeding sheeps and so on…

    20. I’ve often heard the claim that man is the only species that consumes the milk of other species, but it’s simply not true, as evidenced by the fondness that cats have for milk from cows or goats. I’ve been told that cats only drink milk “because humans train them to do so,” but have you ever tried to “train” a cat? LOL. I’ve adopted several feral cats who, without any “training” whatsoever, meowed for milk and begged to drink what was left in a cereal bowl. My latest adoptee, abandoned as a kitten, was actually raised by a mother fox along with her kits in a den on my property. Interspecies adoptions and nursing behavior have been documented. Now an adult, I doubt if she nurses anymore (sharp teeth!) but Mama Fox still grooms her sometimes. I am not addressing here the other claims with regard to the health benefits or lack thereof for humans, just the misconception about interspecies milk consumption. http://scribol.com/environment/animals-environment/10-incredible-tales-of-interspecies-nursing/

    21. cats are lactose intolerant…. and just because they enjoy it, doesn’t meant it is good for them. a toddler with a soda will do the same thing, it doesn’t mean a toddler needs soda to be healthy.
      point next: show me the thumbs and gripping palms on a cat that allows it to drink cows milk without human intervention.

    22. Like I said, my comment was not addressing whether the milk is GOOD for them or not, but rather, the erroneous claim that animals will not voluntarily consume the milk of other species. Fox milk may not have been the ideal diet for my cat who was abandoned as a kitten and adopted by Mama Fox, but it did save her life and she grew up quite healthy.

  3. Really? Have you seen the many many videos taken of lactating cows with open infected wounds attached to milking machines? I have. But aside from that, how about the raping of cows by grown men wearing long rubber gloves? How about the removal of newborn calves mere minutes or hours after birth resulting in extreme trauma to both mother and calf? Of course depending on sex and condition the calves are either immediately killed, stuck in cramped cages alone for the next 3 or 4 months and then killed for “veal.” The females of course get to repeat their mothers torture, continuous pregnancy and milking until her supply ebbs and then slaughter. How much is the dairy industry paying you? They ARE going out of business and good riddance.

    1. The animal rights activists (ARAs) say that animals deserve rights because they are just like us humans e.g. feel pain and can suffer. Well many species of animals have been observed taken part in sexual acts humans’ judge as immoral and illegal: rape (coercive copulation), paedophilia, incest, necrophilia and bestiality (interspecies sex). I won’t post examples to keep this page decent. Thus if ARAs are promoting the idea that animals should be given the same moral consideration/stand point as humans then the likely hood is that many animals will be committing crimes and facing the law courts , see Article 6 to 11 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which sounds weird. Of course the ARAs may argue that the rights they want to give to animals are different to the ones humans should have (see the UDHR), thus animals and humans are not equal. Then again the ARAs may also argue that the sexual acts mentioned above are natural and we shouldn’t judge but one can see this as an excuse to down grade humans on a moral level to make animals equal. Thus law and order is thrown out of the window and only survival of the fitness matters. This may explain why sex and nudity and other offensive material common in PETA’s propaganda. In the words of Marlene Zuk Evolutionary biologist “using information about animal behaviour to justify social or political ideology is wrong…People need to be able to make decisions about their lives without worrying about keeping up with the bonobos” “How much is the dairy industry paying you?” Well how much is PETA paying you? See how pointless that question is. My thoughts when an Animal Rights Activist (ARA) compares artificial insemination (AI) to rape. 1. Most obvious that the comparison is deeply offensive to those people who have suffered that crime. 2. Unless you are Doctor Dolittle their is no way of knowing if an animal has given consent. The best we can do is detect if an animal is on its oestrus cycle http://extension.psu.edu/…/reproduction/insemination/ec402/… I know from personal experience (done AI on a pig farm) that if an animal isn’t on Heat they wont submit. 3. I wonder what an ARAs view is on other assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) such as IVF and embryo transfer? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24170352 4. The ARAs often say that the AI of farm animals is an Feminist/sexism issue without realising that many male farm animals have a much shorter life expectancy than their female counterpartshttp://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/20/the-short-brutal-life-of-male-chickens.html, although that is changing http://www.dairymoos.com/what-happens-to-the-male-calves/ But the ARAs probably believe that a short life/no life at all is better than a life in “slavery” (another one of their offensive comparisons) 5. They do realise that AI can also be done with companion (pets) animals http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/…/artificial-insemination-…/ and zoo animals http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/…/can-artificial-inse…

    2. Non human animals are not rational agents, it would make as much sense to prosecute a human with severe cognitive disability of these crimes than it would be to prosecute non human animals. We might have a court hearing to establish that a human is a rational agent or not, but such a hearing is not required for animals for obvious reasons. The equality between human and non human animals then is not a question of whether they deserve the same treatment in all respects, we don’t even offer this to all humans. And rightly so. It would be wrong to prosecute a human with cognitive disability of crime when they were not rational agents.

      What ARA want then is equal consideration without discrimination against them due to genetic differences. They want equality for them based on the cognitive abilities they actually have rather than a bias based on group membership.

      As for whether certain acts are natural, there is no such thing as natural or unnatural acts. It’s a meaningless term.

      Regarding consent, only rational agents are capable of consent.

      As for whether a no life is better than a life of slavery, non existent life literally has no value. You are not harming some imaginary pool of souls by not having as many children as you can, and you would not be doing humans a favour by breeding them to be slaves with the rationalisation that they might not be born anyway. The same principle therefore applies to animals if one disagrees with discrimination based on genetics.

      Regarding feminism and animal rights, many people would argue it is worse to sexually and emotionally exhausted by a lifetime of repeated pregnancies only for their newborns to be forcibly separated from them before she too is killed than the life of those male animals, whom are merely killed. Carol J Adams also has written quite a lot about he links between feminism and the animal exploitation industries if you are interested in the topic.

    3. As a small farmer, I have to admit I have never seen “consensual copulation” between any animals. This is instinctive. When a cow is in estrus, she is ready to mate. She DOES NOT CARE how that happens. I can tell you that artificial insemination is MUCH safer and less violent than putting her with a bull. People are crazy. They have no idea what they are talking about because they are SO far removed from their food and the sources of it. They have consumed the PETA Kool-Aid. I believe in the humane treatment of ALL animals, no matter whether they are intended for food or not. So, respect for them is key. But I DO eat meat and I do so responsibly. I have been to SEVERAL commercial dairy farms and have never seen anything that these people are claiming. I wonder how many they have been to?

    4. How many actual dairy farms have you visited? How many dairy farmers have you had dialogue with? I’ll wait. Stop drinking Kool-Aid and doing internet research. Bull calves are NOT immediately killed. That is blatantly false. LOL!

  4. actually… white blood cells once out of the blood system are dead… which is the definition of pus… dead white blood cells…. hence… pus in milk… having more than a certain number is against the law because it would be extremely toxic… but sure, a bit of pus in your milk adds taste… right?

    1. You’re altering the definition of pus to match your beliefs. Copy-pasting from the article: “Notice that they equate white blood cells with pus. What a clever tactic to scare and gross you out. Pus contains much more than simply white blood cells. There are dead neutrophils present, live neutrophils, dead tissue cells, proteins, and dead microorganisms (e.g., bacteria) in pus. It’s simply wrong to use the term pus and white blood cells interchangeably because they are not the same thing.

      We use the word pus when an infection is present not in the absence of it.”

      Also attaching a pus definition from Google search. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/23141b21fe905fdadcc0b9673e3dfc7dc700015607d701217b24baf1827dc47a.png

    2. Again… use real sources… your picture doesn’t even list where the definition comes from… get the biological and medical definition:
      “Pus is a protein-rich fluid called liquor puris, usually whitish-yellow, yellow, or yellow brown in color. Pus consists of a buildup of dead leukocytes (white blood cells) from the body’s immune system in response to infection. It accumulates at the site of inflammation. When the buildup is on or very near the surface of the skin it is called a pustule or pimple. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is called an abscess.”
      Here is the reference:
      http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249182.php

      But you can also use the one from the medical dictionary found here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pus

    3. You have trouble understanding that pus goes together with infection. You cannot have pus without infection (as per all the definitions you also cite). The simple presence of white blood cells alone does not create pus.

      Really, how many times do we have to write the definition of pus? I suggest talking to a doctor because this point seems hard for you to understand.

      Also you keep saying that there are no sources. Really? Follow the hyperlinks please to the USDA and the study in the Pediatric Research. Do you need someone to spell them out for you?

      Finally, the “REAL peer-reviewed” research you cite doesn’t say what you think you say. Of course, when your white blood cells are high then that’s a sign of infection. BUT we all have a certain number of white blood cells present, it’s just that this number becomes higher when an infection is present and that’s why they are used as a diagnostic tool.

    4. You don’t need infection, but in the case you did, 86%-90% of the cows suffer from an infection and it leaks into the milk, in the other cases it is still prevalent due to high bacteria levels and the overall health of the cow…. it is in one of the provided articles you have so elocuently decided to ignore… Since you don’t care for the references I will copy paste the educational part in which somatic cell counts is directly linked to bacteria and PUSS…
      “A somatic cell count (SCC) is a cell count of somatic cells in a fluid specimen, usually milk. In dairying, the SCC is an indicator of the quality of milk—specifically, its low likeliness to contain harmful bacteria, and thus its high food safety. White blood cells (leukocytes) constitute the majority of somatic cells in question. The number of somatic cells increases in response to pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, a cause of mastitis. The SCC is quantified as cells per milliliter. General agreement rests on a reference range of less than 100,000 cells/mL for uninfected cows and greater than 250,000 for cows infected with significant pathogen levels.[1] [2] Several tests like the PortaSCC milk test and The California mastitis test provides a cow-side measure of somatic cell count.[3] The somatic cell count in the milk also increases after calving when colostrum is produced.

      Bacteria plate count

      The methods of determining Grade A milk quality are well established, and are based on the somatic cell count (puss) and the bacteria plate count. Generally a lower somatic cell count indicates better animal health, while the bacteria plate count indicates improved equipment sanitation.”

      Schwarz, D et al. (2010). “Somatic cell counts and bacteriological status in quarter foremilk samples of cows in Hesse, Germany—A longitudinal study”. Journal of Dairy Science. Elsevier. 93 (12): 5716–5728. doi:10.3168/jds.2010-3223. PMID 21094743.

    5. Thanks for building up on my point that there’s always some SCC but it goes up in case of infection and that’s why we use it as a diagnostic tool for cows’ health. Where does the “86-90% of the cows suffer from an infection” statistic come from?

    6. gave you the wrong reference for the percentag… I apologize, it is 70-80%. And, to compliment the point I added more research that validates the number. Even though dairy organizations claim the ratio has gone from 150 cases pero 100 cows a year to 30+ pero 100 cows a year, research shows otherwise.
      Veterinary services report several other diseases found in the following levels:
      “Of operations that performed milk cultures during the
      previous 12 months, a similar percentage detected
      S. aureus (52.3 percent), E. coli/Klebsiella/other gram
      negative bacteria (53.3 percent), or environmental strep
      (60.1 percent). A higher percentage of large operations
      (21.4 percent) and operations in the West region
      (17.7 percent) identified Mycoplasma, compared with
      medium and small operations (3.8 and 4.0 percent,
      respectively) and operations in the East region (4.2
      percent). ”

      That aside… to lwer incidence and levels of infection, cows are given loads of antibiotics regularly… which appears in the milk. Right now there are reports of superbugs due to regular use….
      Schwarz, D et al. (2010). “Somatic cell counts and bacteriological status in quarter foremilk samples of cows in Hesse, Germany—A longitudinal study”. Journal of Dairy Science. Elsevier. 93 (12): 5716–5728. doi:10.3168/jds.2010-3223. PMID 21094743.
      Sommerhäuser J1, Kloppert B, Wolter W, Zschöck M, Sobiraj A, Failing K.”The epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus infections from subclinical mastitis in dairy cows during a control programme.”
      http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/reproductive_system/mastitis_in_large_animals/mastitis_in_cattle.html

    7. Even if, thanks to the humongous use of antibiotics, the ratio of infection was close to zero… how can you claim it is healthy to drink a milk packed with antibiotics? When researchers are worried sick of the super bugs arising from this practice?

    8. There are no antibiotics in milk. If there were, it would have to be dumped. It is tested before it goes into the truck and before it leaves the truck.

    9. By the way, since the only reference in your blog-article is wikipedia here is a reference explaining the somatic cell counts in milk and calling it puss:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_cell_count
      Now, if you want REAL references to how that somatic cell count means puss, here are REAL Peer reviewed articles… not that any evidence will change your mind as you already mentioned:
      Schukken, et al.(2003). “Monitoring udder health and milk quality using somatic cell counts”. Vetenary Research. EDP Sciences. 34 (5): 579–596. doi:10.1051/vetres:2003028. PMID 14556696.
      Schwarz, D et al. (2010). “Somatic cell counts and bacteriological status in quarter foremilk samples of cows in Hesse, Germany—A longitudinal study”. Journal of Dairy Science. Elsevier. 93 (12): 5716–5728. doi:10.3168/jds.2010-3223. PMID 21094743.

    10. lol… you can’t be serious. Have you ever seen pus? Are you also completely and totally scared for every newborn human baby that breastfeeds because (GASP) there are white blood cells in human breastmilk too. omg the horror.

    11. Actually… the level of pus in human females compared to female cows is WAY less given that they do not undergo the huge stress and constant forceful extraction. That aside, cow’s milk also contain a level of hormones way higher than that in human’s milk since it is meant to have a calf grow to full size in a short period of time…. humans are not cows.

  5. Of course honey is exempt, because industry is trying to push sugar on us in any way they can so we can all be obese and diabetic like it’s going out of style. Sugar = good. Wholesome milk = bad. Give me a fucking break.

  6. Jesus H….
    I dont drink milk and never have, just because unless it was chocolate, I have no interest.
    This whole “milk=?” is quite new.
    Meanwhile my whole family of women, most raised on a farm, lived to be 90+ years….
    Lewis Black said it best when he said soy milk is bullshit. Because there’s “no soy teet”…. Haha
    But either way, everyone do what you want. It’s all good. Most diseases that come out nowadays aren’t related to food.
    I myself have MS, so dairy alone is bad for me :/?

    1. Wow.. so many diseases could be prevented by knowledge of nutrition and proper food. My heart honestly hurts at the ignorance.

  7. I chose not to drink milk primarily because it is incessantly promoted as a ‘perfect food’ when there is significant evidence it is not (even before I became obsessed with these issues). For years, the way milk is promoted was the primary reason I thought the American and Canadian Food Guides were a load of crap. It’s all about selling and consuming, not about informing (forget health). Then I saw the comment that milk is the perfect mixture of natural nutrients and growth hormones to turn a 50 lb calf into a 500 lb steer in a few months. I milked cows as a kid and raised steers, the reality of that is enough. That is what got me to never consider drinking milk again (3 years ago). Then I found (research) with Vitamin D, there are better sources of Calcium. Finally there is the casein-a1 issue and the Dairy Industry response to it. It is not worth the risk for something I don’t miss. I do eat some Goat Cheese where a lot of the components of the milk are pre-consumed and you get casein-a2. May eventually eliminate that (again) as well, but a small amount once a week shouldn’t kill my hard earned plant based gut micro-biome (18 months).

  8. You all are forgetting about the fact that a cow only produces milk after giving birth and only for about 10 months. The same goes for humans, only lactating after giving birth and only long enough for our young to grow big enough to move on to solid foods. There’s no real health or dietary benefit to force a cow to give birth and then steal the milk that should be for their baby. There are even studies claiming a correlation between casein, a protein found in dairy, and cancer. http://nutritionstudies.org/provocations-casein-carcinogen-really/ So whether is puss or just blood it’s really weird to want to drink an animal’s milk.

  9. What would be happening to cause a high white blood cell count in milk so it would be rejected? Infection? Resulting in the pus (you have failed in your endeavour to disprove the existence of pus, or infection, only that there is no such thing as a pus cell). Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and milk is rejected when the high white blood cell count signals that it came from an infected cow.

  10. Why the heck are people arguing back and forth with each other on this? Just google “pus in milk scholarly articles”, read them (because there is more than one) and be done with it.

    Here, I’ll help:
    “Mastitis in dairy cattle is an inflammatory reaction of the udder. Infection of the mammary gland is the most common and most costly disease in the dairy industry. The symptoms of mastitis include abnormalities such as a watery appearance of milk, flakes, clots, or pus in milk [1–3]”

    Don’t take my word for it though, read the study yourself!
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3349122/

  11. The way we treat animals to get their milk is cruel. I can not in good conscience participate in it. These days there are so many healthy alternatives that are not produced in a way which causes suffering.

    1. Have you ever seen a cow milked? It’s not cruel at all. They stand there munching hay like nothing is going on . Give you a big sloppy lick if you get too close .

    2. Have you ever seen a cow get milked in an industrial setting? keep in mind that over 90% of all milk consumed in the US comes from industrialized farms. They are hooked up in a long row and covered in their own feces. Most of them have mastitis or Staph Aureus from filthy conditions and improperly fitted teat attachments. Dairy farms that supply milk to supermarkets are enormous operations that have to look out for their bottom line and can’t be bothered to treat a cow with an udder infection. If it is noticed at all, the cow will be put down and either turned into low-grade meat for fast food restaurants or turned into low grade meat for pet food. And humans aren’t doing cows a favor by taking breast milk that is meant to grow a calf into an enormous stately animal. Not only that, cow’s milk has been definitively linked to breast cancer, obesity, heart disease, and hormonal imbalances. There is literally no such thing as “hormone free” milk, since the cow’s body is flooded with hormones during and after pregnancy, even if the cow, herself has not been directly injected with hormones. And now we come to the offspring. In order to keep milk production profitable, the babies cannot be allowed to suck up the profits! That is just absurd! And why not make a little extra money on the side by selling the male calves for meat. They’re a different breed than the beef cows, so they’re going to grow too slow to be financially feasible to be allowed grow up. Can’t call it “baby meat” though, no one will buy it… add a little marketing and now you have “tender veal” and you can sell it for an outrageous sum, so that the middle class will treat it like a status symbol. Well, we got that out of the way. What about the girls. Well, the females will definitely go into production like their mothers. They’ll be forcibly impregnated at a year old and every year for the next 4-5 years, until they collapse. Yeah, normally they’d live to be 20, but this is business. Gotta keep production high and money rolling in.

    3. You seriously have to stop watching Netflix. The USDA regulates cow milk production. If an animal has mastitis, it cannot be used. What you’re trying to do is use scare tactics in the form of research, when what you’re saying is propaganda. Focus more on really understanding the circle of life. I don’t believe a farmer would risk allowing anyone to see their meal tickets slathered in feces. STOP with the bullcrap(literally)! It makes you look bad.

    4. I dated a dairy farmer. They line up the cows. There is no testing of individual cows! Then the milk truck comes. They may test the whole batch, but no cows were inspected or tested at all. It was so so nasty. The do poop while producing the milk. Hopefully the farmer will clean the equipment, but cow after cow, I saw nothing cleaned with more than a water hose!!!

    5. Yes that’s how it was in the past. But now cows live in factory farms where the conditions are deplorable. The sooner you get your head around that the soon you’ll be able to let go of that delusion.

    6. I certainly don’t recommend you live there. Cows? They probably don’t consider them deplorable. Before you say I can’t know what a cow thinks, neither can you, so you can’t say I’m wrong. Your standard is not theirs.
      I’m not so deluded as to put an animal on the same level of humans. They can have their rights when they stand up and petition for them.

    7. Well done for the most stupid and fatuous comment I’ve ever read. Do you think because animals don’t have a voice, and cannot stand up for themselves, they don’t have any rights? How fucked up must you be in your mind, that you think they don’t feel pain and suffering, or if they do, it doesn’t matter? Good luck clawing your way up the evolutionary ladder – maybe some professional help would get you there a little faster.

    8. How fucking stupid are you? I’ve seen them with the milking machines attached to bleeding, pus dripping teats. What, you make your living torturing animals and this is the best you can come up with? You make me sick to my stomach.

    9. Commence the cursing and name calling. In other words, you have no argument that holds water. Else you would give it.

    10. Have you ever visited a factory farm? – the most disgusting treatment you could give to a species ever – how would you feel if we make you pregnant on purpose (more like raped in human terms) and then when your kids are born we’ll take them away while we confine you in a 6×3 feet cell where the only thing you’ll do is produce milk for others – while your “veals” are slaughtered- then we get you pregnant again and keep repeating until you are so old you can’t produce anymore- then we just slaughter you too and sell you for dog food – ANSWER THAT, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL? – and yes I had visited dairy farms, slaughter houses etc …. is just a matter of COMMON SENSE – is sad and dissapointing that people think like that – guess common sense is not common anymore – read a book and stop believing what media feeds you!

    11. There is no such thing as a “factory farm”…that is biased Netflix “documentary” verbiage. There are commercial dairy farms. And YES, I have been to several. Which is why I ASKED YOU how many you have visited. How many? You have not answered my question. Cows go into estrus…they don’t care who does the job. Seriously. And AI is much gentler than putting her with a bull. It is a NATURAL cycle that animals go through. They are not confined to a “cell”… and they are able to forage on silage that is provided for them, as well as pasture. Yes, babies are taken away. But you know what? They are happy as long as you give them a bottle. They want to eat. And since many vegans also have pets…where do you think we should get the food for that? Did you know that not all bull calves are turned into veal? Many get to live healthy lives on pasture until they are turned into beef. Yes, people eat dairy steers as beef. Dairy cows are allowed to dry up. They have to in order to store up calcium. They are NOT perpetually pregnant. So, why don’t you go visit a dairy farm…visit 5-10 of them to get the full picture. Happy cows give good milk. These cows are expensive and are an investment. The C-R-A-P you believe is just inaccurate.

    12. Of course… you’re a farmer
      And you never responded my question – I asked you: “how would YOU feel in that scenario “ …. I did NOT ask you “what do YOU THINK the cows feel?” … a very simple question
      If you call that “crap” in 21 century with all the tools for information available everywhere you go, then I do not think we can have an intelligent conversation

    13. Well, it’s very simple. I’m not a cow. And the cow is not me. Do you have cows? Have you ever raised one? Do you know how cows feel? Because I think you live in the land of Muppets and cartoons. There is a lot of FALSE information out there. And you have been sucked into it. The fact of the matter is that you can only spout propaganda instead of ACTUALLY doing REAL research and figuring things out. I used to think and believe like you. Which is why I started farming in the first place…because I wanted to do things differently. But through experience and meeting and talking with REAL farmers, and raising my own animals, I realize how much this IS C-R-A-P. You have no idea what you are talking about because all you have done is read articles on the internet.

    14. Like you said. Is very “simple” is you are not a cow then HOW IN THE WORLD YOU KNOW HOW THEY FEEL ? By talking to other farmers like you that think they also know how cows feel ???
      1) I happened to own several farms in different parts of the world – all cows are gone now – instead the land is been use to develop solar power alternatives to provide solutions for people that cannot afford it – I make 3 times the revenue by helping other people – THE ENVIRONMENT- and cruelty free…
      2) You have to be blind or stupid to not realize that using and ABUSING another living being for your own profit is not moral
      3) these days there is rice milk, cashew, soy, almond , hemp, oat milks… I could go all day! With way more nutrients than something that was meant to feed another species, not me .
      4) And no, I hate to break it to you but I happen to know a few undercover people that infiltrates farms and TRULY expose el the CRAP that happens in doors…I can show you 100000 of hours of videos.
      That is no “internet articles”
      Save your response – instead do some research if you actually give a CRAP about what other animals feel AND the environment.

    15. It’s spelled “S P O T ” Holly…

      Nope, I just prefer cruelty free food – feels much better to not abuse animals while drinking a glass full of pus and bacteria… OH did we forget to mention the studies associated with milk consumption and cancer…yes, I do not have time to educate you on that.
      You think you are going to “save” the dairy industry by arguing with individuals online… sorry, dairy industry is hurting, and is just getting started…. that BS that milk is “good for you” was never true, the only thing that is good is for your pocket and to fuck the environment.
      People, do your research about what you put in your body and just don’t swallow what the media feeds you!

      My nut juice is yummy! Cheers to your glass of pus ! 🙂

    16. Actually…I wrote what I meant…which is S P O U T …. as in gushing with bias and ignorance. I am not even bothering to read the rest of what you wrote. You are WRONG and the only defense you people have is to insult and degrade and accuse anyone who doesn’t agree with you. YOU are why people think vegans are nuts (pun intended) and make fun of them. You give the good people who practice veganism a bad name. You ARE ignorant. You need help. I hope you find it.

    17. Do the world a favour, and go play in the traffic. No one needs people with zero empathy or morals in this world.

    18. Ms. Holly Mathis Tartaglia, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul. Humans don’t need cows milk or any meat to survive and YES I have been to Dairy farms and sanctuaries to learn about what they do to these animals. ? IF it doesn’t matter who impregnates you right, why not open your legs to all men and that way you can keep popping out babies? If there girls well that’s good news because they are the money makers so we need to get them started soon. You’re a dying breed, literally farmers are committing suicide because they don’t know what they’re going to do with there life, oh I don’t know, do something that will be good for this planet. GFY, hope to hear about your farm in a news article.

    19. Ha ha ha…okay! You obviously have nothing factual or constructive to say, other than to insult. Sorry your feelings were hurt…lol. Go worship your cow now.

    20. I’m finding it rather hard to believe that you would say Holly is making us dumber, when nothing you have said makes any sense. For one, she did not say it doesn’t matter who makes the cow pregnant. She simply said a cow is in heat so much that there’s no preference between a bull or AI(which is safer). Stop dumbing down the points she was making because you don’t have any to offer. Clearly, Billy the farmer is not a farmer, but an animal heretic. This woman has stated point after point, while you and the vegan nut job have only attacked with words. I agree with Holly, too much TV and not enough face to face research. The internet is based on opinions, which is why your own doctor would tell you not to use the internet when researching. There is a real world out there..use it! FYI..God said that cattle is good for food(Leviticus 11). Stop playing God and just be man.

  12. The author is correct in saying that Pus in Milk should not be the reason to not drink it. The motivating factor should be the knowledge that cows are raped, abused, their calves stolen from them and then both are murdered should be the real reason to abstain from dairy–you know like having a moral compass.

    1. The author is not correct, pus is classified as the following “Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow, or
      brown-yellow protein-rich fluid called liquor puris that accumulates at
      the site of an infection. It consists of a buildup of dead, white blood
      cells that form when the body’s immune system responds to the infection.”

      Pay special attention to the latter part of that definition which states puss is a buildup of dead white blood cells. Which the author admits are caused by infection. Thus meaning by definition there is pus in milk.

      The author writes “High SCCs may mean the cow has an infection – most likely mastitis. In
      that case, her milk is thrown out. High SCCs may also act as a red flag
      for antibiotic residue violation (milk with antibiotic residues is also
      thrown out.” I’d like to make you aware that in the UK the legal limit for somatic cells (those other than reproductive cells) is 400 million cells per litre of milk.

      Still think there’s not puss in milk?

    2. I love milk. Whole milk, cream, even 2%. CAFO milk is all Ive ever known. Love the flavor, the mouthfeel, all of it. So is there pus in it? Irrelevant. If there is, then it’s part of what I love. Gimme the pus.

    3. Why would you spend all that money on a hieffer just to kill it? Raped? What like artificial insemination? Besides, did you see what that cow was wearing?

  13. Dairy causes inflammation in the body. If you cut out dairy just for two weeks, you’d realize this. Put the animal rights aspect aside. You are consuming hormones from a lactating female meant to progress growth. Throughout my life, my body always had a lot of inflammation. I had warts on my hand, styes, developed terrible acne from about 13-19, always felt lethargic and sick always had sinus problems and lots of mucus. I was 19 when I begun getting tested for auto immune disorders. I had cystic acne and would develop styes on a weekly basis. I asked my doctors if it could be anything with my nutrition. They assured me it wasn’t and that I was healthy and young and I was given topical ointments, antibiotics and Prednisone. I was 19 and maybe 105 lbs, shouldn’t have been on such an intense steroid. It was a bandaid because I would be cured while on it and everything would go back when I got off it. Not only that, I had so many symptoms from the prednisone, it was causing more problems. I’m not sure how I stumbled on the milk/inflammation link, but I decided to cut it out. Within weeks all of my symptoms went away. That was 8 years ago and anytime I become lax and have some dairy, the symptoms return. During this last flu season, I visited my parents for Christmas. 9/10 of the people in the house caught the flu from each other. I didn’t. My immune system is so much stronger without dairy. I think it’s been two years since I’ve even had a cold. The reason I came across this article is because yesterday, the meal I was making called for Greek yogurt. I was reluctant, but I only used half the amount and figured it should be fine. This morning I woke up to congestion, my eyes had this greenish yellow gunk matting them up and were watery. My body was inflamed. They’ve done autopsies of people that abstain from dairy vs someone that had had cheese hours prior to death and the mucus in the latter was much more prevalent. I don’t have the links on me currently, but the research is out there. Before you write me off as a sole case, I have a childhood friend who would get migraines from the ages of 5-25. She cut out dairy and her migraines stopped. Everyone that I’ve recommended to cut dairy out to have seen improvement. It really is as simple as just trying, instead of being stubborn and skeptical. I’ve tried both ways, if you haven’t, you can’t say which way is better.

  14. I will say one thing, i did read your “article” and i must say you’re a good BS as well. First, the whole reason why white blood cells are in the cow’s utter (a cow’s breast), in other words breast milk, is to help the baby calf build it’s unmature immune system. Immune system are used for what ppl? Say it with me to fight off infections! Right, u win the common sense award. And if u consume something that’s naturally meant for a baby calf not an adult it’s bad for. Sorry it’s fact. We don’t need something that’s already mature and definitely not from the same species if you want to say. Lol if i drank my mother’s milk as an adult everytime she had a baby it would be gross right….. Lol so, what’s the difference and definitely if it’s from a cow that’s not your mother LOL.

  15. Yeah, definitely research more. Like listen to doctors who know what they’re talking about, read articles that describe how to read a study, and don’t fall for the shiny barrage of disinformation.

    1. Yeah, that’s not true. I know of farmer who put their pigs in with their dairy goats and the pigs actually chewed off the teats trying to get to the milk in the udder. Not true at all.

  16. It is time that human adults stop breastfeeding and also stop forcing their human babies to drink breast milk from other animals. Its also time that humans stop killing baby cows (and other animals) so they can steal their milk. Time to wake up people and stop being selfish immoral assholes. You think you have a moral high ground that allows you to pay for these cruel practices to continue but really you just are contributing to a violent society that inflicts violent acts on the inhabitance of this planet. Anyone that promotes cows milk as a healthy food is deluded, ignorant and in denial that they are just addicted to protein shakes and dairy yogurt.

  17. Um there’s definitely pus in milk, just make sure your research is from credible sources. It’s the pasteurization that ‘technically’ does make the milk safe to drink apparently, but the pus is still in there, it’s just been heated to a temperature high enough to stop the bacteria multiplying. Milk has pus and it’s not a fact that is hidden.

  18. Your “research” is wrong and confirmed by people who know dairy industry is on stake if the truth comes out. Yes, North American milk contains pus and all kinds of things which do NOT belong there. Try to leave your milk on a counter – you get a greenish, disgusting, indescribable liquid. Do it in Europe – you get a tasty buttermilk. Also the longest ever expire date speaks for itself. We do not have different kinds of cows just different methods of feeding them and injecting them…. ????

  19. A doctor friend of mine contacted me and encouraged me to watch “What the Health?” on Netflix. I have multiple autoimmune disease processes and he had thought of me while watching. I watched it and, as a life-long milk lover, I was disgusted and stopped eating/drinking dairy and meat immediately. The meat thing is something I’d been thinking of doing for a long time anyway for several reasons. I’d been eating less and less meat over the past few years. The milk thing…totally new. After a good six week with no change in any aspect of my health I decided to do more research about the milk claim. I think I will go back to dairy products, at least some of them. I’ve read several articles from both sides. Thanks for the good article here

  20. Funny that the FDA admits there is pus in ALL milk and US the allows 750 million pus cells in every litre of milk. In Europe, regulators allow 400 million pus cells per litre. In Australia there is no limit on how much pus is allowable. This was written by the FDA so cut the bullshit research, they admitted it!!!!!!!! Whoever checks your facts should be fired!!!!!!