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Probe results in arrest for sales of raw dairy goods
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A milk processing plant near Santa Paula was shut down last week after allegedly selling dairy products without a license or pasteurization, authorities said Friday.
Sharon Ann Palmer, 48, was arrested in connection with the plant called Healthy Family Farms at 6780 Wheeler Canyon Road, Ventura County Sheriff's Department officials said in a prepared statement.
Members of the department's Agricultural Crimes Unit and other local health agencies began an investigation of Palmer in the first week of December and found she was operating the plant without a license and selling potentially unpasteurized milk products at farmers' markets in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, according to the statement.
The agencies conducted an undercover operation focused on purchasing illegally made and potentially unsafe goat cheese produced by Healthy Family Farms, authorities said.
Unpasteurized or raw milk has not been heated enough to kill harmful bacteria, including Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus and M. bovis, which can cause tuberculosis, authorities said.
Health officials have cracked down on distributors who sell unpasteurized milk in response to a demand from many who swear by its curative powers and nutritional value, according to a Time Magazine article.
Investigators from California Department of Food and Agriculture and Ventura County Environmental Health Department submitted various containers of goat cheese and yogurt from Healthy Family Farms to a state laboratory for testing, authorities said.
Palmer was arrested on suspicion of processing and selling milk without a license or pasteurization and is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on Friday. She has been released from Ventura County Jail.
Posted by janusjuris on December 21, 2008 at 5:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You are kidding? They waste our tax payer dollars on this stuff when gang-bangers, child-molesters and armed robbers run wild in our streets? Next they will be marching her off to the Gulag.
Posted by janusjuris on December 21, 2008 at 5:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There was a case in Canada like this, but the defendant changed his business model to one where those who were interested in raw milk products were SOLD a cow that he then housed, fed and milked FOR them. They just stopped by and paid him rent and a service fee and picked up their products. He won in the Canadian supreme court. She ought to try that model here.
Posted by Eyemback on December 21, 2008 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't forget Janus. They are getting paid to do their job of stopping these "horrific criminals". They have to justify their pay salary so they still be paid and education gets cut due to budget retraints
Posted by luv2sail on December 21, 2008 at 7:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, I certainly feel safer now that another one of the unpasteurized milk scoundrels were arrested.
Let's see: gang shootings, robberies, stolen cars, "what, what", unpasteurized milk? Call out the troops.
Posted by dcsfancy on December 21, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is really about control of what we are allowed to eat. The giant corporations want us to eat and drink their poisons they do not want us to have a choice of natural foods.
Posted by vtaco93021 on December 21, 2008 at 7:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There boss gave them an ultimatum. You either come up with something to show your doing something or we will send you to the port to inspect bugs that dont exist. Job well done I feel so much safer now
Posted by ironwoman on December 21, 2008 at 8:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If you purchased these dairy products and became ill or even died, then you would want an investigatory team looking into the matter.
FYI people- There are investations teams all over the place, County and State, that are necessary to prevent fraud and scams like this.
You complain about the waste of tax dollars but you would complain if there weren't any check and balance system.
Posted by fibus on December 21, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ironwoman has it right.
The benefits of unpasteurised milk are questionable. But death from salmonella is definite and permanent.
I know it is difficult to get the ignorant to open their minds but it would be beneficial if they would do a google and find Louis Pasteur.
Posted by dcsfancy on December 21, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ironwoman right I really want the government who now says melamine is safe to have in foods.
"The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that its safety experts have concluded that eating a very tiny amount of melamine — 2.5 parts per million — would not raise health concerns, even if a person ate food that was tainted with the chemical every day."
The same chemical that sickened and killed our pets last year. Is now safe to eat.
"Melamine-tainted formula has sickened 54,000, killed 4 children in China "
what happens when melamine builds up in your kidneys? … ya know all those minute traces…
"FYI people- There are investigations teams all over the place, County and State, that are necessary to prevent fraud and scams like this."
No they are here to force us to believe that the little farmer is bad and we should only buy from the big corporate farmer. Bottom line they want to shut out the little farmers. Dig a little and you might realise what is really at stake here.
Does everyone know what gmc foods are? And how they work?
Posted by ironwoman on December 21, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dcsfantasy- Just where in this article is your quote about the Food and Drug Administration said Friday..."
I am talking about investigation teams who work for the State and County investigating such scams as this. You are delusional. I am responding to other commenters about how they think it's a waste of tax dollars.
Stop living in a fantasy
Posted by NottaNewbieNameGame on December 21, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ha ha ha . . . . oh say it aint so! Well at least Sharon has moved on to milking cows instead of milking unsuspecting elderly widows out of their life savings through mortgage scams!!
Sharon Palmer (Ross) was arrested a few years ago as she was trying to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro border crossing with three Mexican nationals in the trunk of her car!!
She had fled to Mexico after scamming an elderly widow out of her $1 million dollar home.
And this was AFTER she had already served a state prison sentences for swindling an elderly home-owner out of nearly $750,000 in a similar scam.
Posted by dcsfancy on December 21, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Raw milk:
"[For years, m]illions [in California] consumed commercial raw milk, … not a single incidence was reported. During the same period, there were many instances of contamination in pasteurized milk, some of which resulted in death. [I]f we withdrew … every food type responsible for a case of food poisoning, there would be virtually nothing left to eat. But only raw milk has been singled out for general removal from the food supply.
"… the bacteria in raw milk is the healthy bacteria of lactic-acid fermentation while the bacteria in pasteurized milk is the bacteria of spoilage. … Both raw and pasteurized milk contain E. coli, normally a benign microorganism. The most likely source of the new strains of virulent E. coli is genetically engineered soy, fed to cows in large commercial dairies. If there is any type of milk likely to harbor these virulent breeds, it is commercial pasteurized milk. … Children fed raw milk have more resistance to TB, scurvy, flu, diphtheria, pneumonia, asthma, allergic skin problems and tooth decay. In addition, their growth and calcium absorption was superior." (In California, there is currently an effort to ban raw milk.
"Four distinct groups of bacteria survive pasteurization….the strep of pasteurized milk are the most frequent cause of rheumatic fever –the most deadly disease of childhood.’" - USDA
Corporate milk:
During the Clinton administration, a new study was released "conclud[ing] that milk from cows injected with [genetically engineered bovine growth hormone - rBGH) increases risks of breast and colon cancers in humans.
....
"rBGH poses an even greater risk to human health than ever considered," warned Samuel Epstein M.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine .... "The FDA and Monsanto have a lot to answer for. Given the cancer risks, and other health concerns, why is rBGH milk still on the market?"
Since 1986, independent scientists have expressed concern about the lack of research on rBGH milk.
Michael Colby, Executive Director of Food and Water said, "Monsanto 's claims that rBGH is perfectly safe have been proven dead wrong today .... Only Monsanto is benefiting from this drug. It's time for dairy companies to side with consumers by adopting a policy that they will not allow rBGH, under any circumstances, to be used by their farmers."
Epstein said: "The entire nation is currently being subjected to a large-scale adulteration of an age-old dietary staple by a poorly characterized and unlabeled biotechnology product which is very different than natural milk."
In 2007 - when Mark Nolt was first arrested for selling raw milk (natural milk) - a citizens' petition to the FDA on rBGH milk showed 30 scientific journals indicating an up-to-7-fold increased risk of breast cancer, and an increased risk of colon and prostate cancern.
Posted by dcsfancy on December 21, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
3. PROMOTION
Raw milk is sold primarily through word of mouth.
Corporate milk is promoted through large, expensive ad campaigns.
The California Milk Processor Board is now targeting teens:
"Goodby, Silverstein and Partners created a page on MySpace to promote White Gold and the Calcium Twins, a team of new fictitious characters turned rock stars who spread their love of and devotion to milk through music. TV spots, print ads and PR will also support the promotion.
"The Milk Processor Education Program ... is funded by the nation's milk processors ... committed to increasing fluid milk consumption." http://www.thinkaboutyourdrink.com.
4. LABELIING
Raw milk is just milk. Those who buy it know that and seek it out for that reason.
On the corporate side, Monsanto continues pushing bans on labeling rBGH-milk. Customers usually do not know they are consuming rBGH milk.
During its approval process,
"FDA scientist, Dr Richard Burroughs concluded ... Monsanto was manipulating the [test] figures. In 1989 he was sacked after complaining to Congress … To deal with the … controversy Monsanto assembled …PR companies … of which [BURSON-MARSTELLER] was one."
During the Clinton administration, Monsanto employees were appointed to run the FDA. Monsanto’s rBGH - the first genetically engineered product ever, was approved.
"[In]1994, people at the FDA [wrote] an anonymous letter to … Congress, [fearing] retribution … The basis of our concern is that Dr. Margaret Miller … wrote the FDA’s opinion on why milk from [rbGH]-treated cows should not be labeled. However, before coming to the FDA, Dr. Margaret Miller was working for the Monsanto company as a researcher on [rbGH].”
Posted by dcsfancy on December 21, 2008 at 8:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
In 1996, there was a press conference on rBGH’s medical risks. "Given the potential health impacts of consumption of milk and other dairy products derived from rBGH treated cows, all such products at a minimum be labeled so that consumers are aware of what they are purchasing and consuming. More prudently the FDA approval of rBGH should be withdrawn until the agency performs adequate long term testing …"
"… Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and Vermont attempted to enforce labelling of milk produced with, and containing, this hormone. Their efforts were thwarted by Burson-Marsteller acting on behalf of these companies."
Burson-Marsteller has been a long-term (now campaign) advisor to Hillary Clinton, through its CEO, Mark Penn. And Monsanto’s effort to ban labeling of the milk continues today.
Banning of labeling of rBGH milk in effect puts millions of Americans into a human experiment with genetic engineering, exposing them to greatly increased risk of cancers. The Nuremberg Code makes clear that experimental subjects must give informed consent.
Mr. Stoltzfus added up losses for Mark Nolt: "Trepass on private property, private personal merchandise stolen, being deprived of a significant amount of hard work he and his family put together. He is being deprived of the opportunity to market his product now, they are throwing it away. It’s a shame."
Mr. Nolt did not have a permit. He has twice lost thousands of dollars of work or material, and faces jail.
Monsanto sells rBGH-milk associated with cancers, Clinton hired Monsanto employees which approved their own genetically engineered product, Hillary Clinton has been silent up to today about the risk rBGH poses to women, PR firms strongly push the milk on all ages. None face jail or fines for altered facts, for PR campaigns encouraging even children to drink rBGH-milk, or for banning labeling of it, which has put the entire US population at medical risk for years. Monsanto, the Clintons, Burson-Marsteller and Goodby, Silverstein and Partners are all making millions.
Posted by AnnaWhaat on December 21, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well I sure wouldn't want someone getting TB then sending thier kid to school and infecting all the other kids. Or adults even for that matter.
We have different organizations of all sorts of things....Not everyone is out thier to fight gang crime.
If I am paying for five gallons of gas, by gosh I want to make sure I am getting the full 5 gallons. If I am paying .79 a pound for banana's I want to make sure I am getting what I pay for. Everyone has a job to do. And I do feel they are important ones. The only ones were lacking on is the Employers who are hiring illegals who are not suppose to be working here. THOSE are the people we really need to also go after....They are really lacking in that area.
Posted by NottaNewbieNameGame on December 21, 2008 at 8:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
HELLO!!! My guess is this probably has nothing to do with milking cows!!
This woman has a long criminal history of federal crimes. She see's the elderly as easy targets. Who knows what she's been up to in this most recent venture!!!!!!!!!
Posted by dcsfancy on December 21, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ironwoman Thank you for your gracious comment about me. Do you feel better now that you have stepped on a fellow human? I could say things about you but choose to be the better person. Perhaps you can learn from that. And in my opinion it is a waste of tax dollars to go after this small company.
Posted by ironwoman on December 21, 2008 at 8:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dcsfantasy= Re-read your comment to me first before you play the victim. I was commenting to other people about their opinion on how they think these investigations are a waste of tax dollars. I made a simple comment, yet you came in here, quoting me went off in some other direction about the Government. Sorry, the conspiracy theories don't usually work with me. If you feel belittled, sorry. Didn't mean to but your reaction to my comment was unnecessary.
Posted by Comments on December 21, 2008 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think it's ridiculous that this woman was arrested. People should have the right to purchase her products if they want. The only qualifier to that is that the products should be clearly labeled that raw, unpasteurized milk was used. Warning labels (i.e. warning about the risk of listeria, etc) would also be good, though I'm certain they're not currently included.
I don't like milk and don't drink any, so it's not an issue for me. I also made sure to steer clear of raw milk products while pg, because listeria carries a huge risk to loss of fetus in pg. I also wouldn't give my toddler raw milk products because children's immune systems aren't mature enough to handle the potential harmful bateria. All that said though, I do buy and eat cheeses made from raw milk. And, you can purchase them at whole foods and trader joe's. Are the cops going to shut down those stores and arrest those suppliers?
Consuming foods made from raw milk is pretty standard in the rest of the world. Cheeses made from raw milk are a huge staple of the European diet.
I frankly don't see any health benefits from eating raw milk vs. pasteruized milk. Indeed, cow's milk is not necessary for humans and my belief is that we'd all be better off not consuming cow's milk at all. However, if people wish to drink it or eat products made from raw milk then that's their business.
Posted by NottaNewbieNameGame on December 21, 2008 at 9:06 a.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by peekaboo on December 21, 2008 at 9:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I find it disturbing that the paper chose to give this woman's name and age, but the flasher dude arrested in Simi is identified as only a "Lancaster man". PRIORITIES PEOPLE!!!
Posted by NottaNewbieNameGame on December 21, 2008 at 12:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sharon Palmer AKA Sharon Palmer-Ross, was also known as the "queenpin" of a fraudulent Southern California home-loan business several years ago. She preyed on the elderly and bilked dozens of elderly people and businesses out of MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!!
In that fraud case, Sharon had fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution, (she had already served time in federal prison on different fraud case) but was arrested after crossing the boarder with illegals stuffed in her trunk. Sharon the 'queenpin" was held on a $5 million dollar bail and was later convicted.
Authorities came in and RAIDED the farm but it looks like she may have been arrested on Wells Road?
I don't think it is unreasonable to question the moral character of someone with such a long documented criminally history of fraudulent and unethical business practices. Sounds like she may have ticked someone off again.
Posted by nojustice_justus on December 21, 2008 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fortunately for the posters here who question the efficiency of this LE unit should be grateful there isn't a unit that deals with ignorance.
Gangs running wild on the streets? I haven't seen one gang out there running wild. Gang problem?-yes. They aren't out there running wild.
Save your semantics for the fishing docks.
Posted by Bookman on December 21, 2008 at 5:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey NottaNewbie,
Wow, how come you know so much about this con, even like her getting arrested on Wells Road??
You been eatin' some of her crazy goat cheese??
Posted by THESILKY1 on December 21, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Got Milk!
or Mad Cow!
Silk....
Posted by NottaNewbieNameGame on December 22, 2008 at 1:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bookman -
LOL!! I prefer to stay away from things I find unpalitable or just tough to swallow!
THESILKY1 wrote-
"Got Milk!
or Mad Cow!"
Perhaps a "Cash Cow"?! Oh, the irony! She's always been a milker! Your right, those poor cows are probably MAD Cows by now! LMAO!!
What about "Sheep Cheese"? Oh that's right, their wolves! Never mind.
Posted by eclipsewatcher on December 22, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My mom came from a large family and they occasionally drank cow and goat milk straight from the animal. Nothing bad ever happened to them, or maybe they were just lucky.
Cow's milk is for baby cows and mother's milk is for baby humans. The human animal is the only one which does not wean itself from milk consumption. Childhood milk allergies and lactose intolerance in adults are simply the body's way of rejecting it. There are plenty of other ways to get Vitamin D and calcium besides dairy.
Posted by melneejane on December 22, 2008 at 12:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ya'll are going on and on about COWS MILK the article clearly says she was selling products made from GOATS MILK...
"The agencies conducted an undercover operation focused on purchasing illegally made and potentially unsafe goat cheese produced by Healthy Family Farms, authorities said."
It probably doesn't matter...but if the Agencies in question didn't investigate ag crimes like they are supposed to you would be questioning why are tax dollars are going to that agency. This Agency is investigating and arresting the people we pay them to investigate and arrest.
The Police departments and Sheriff's department are doing the best they can with the gang bangers, robbers, burglars and child molester. The Moorpark Police just arrested the men in the stabbing. The Ventura Police are still looking for the killer of the Medinas Great Grandson...I wonder if the shooting in Santa Paula was in retaliation to the shooting of him....crazy...the PD's and SO are under staffed and over worked...
Posted by suejones on December 23, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There was an article about Sharon and her farm in the Fillmore Gazette on Dec 10th. (Our small town printed paper and on-line editions.) Maybe this help start the investigation.
http://www.fillmoregazette.com/front-...
If this link doesn't work then go to their main site and scroll down to almost the end to find it.
http://www.fillmoregazette.com/
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