this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2024
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Creepy Wikipedia

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TIL about "Swill milk" where cows were fed distillery waste causing cow teeth rot and disease. It was also adulterated with raw eggs, burn sugar, etc. Swill milk lead to over 8,000 infant's deaths (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 7 months ago by hellfire103@lemmy.ca to c/creepywikipedia@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/13693898

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[–] Lommy241@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. But from the article I would assume that the infant deaths were due to additives to the milk not because of the diet of the cow.

[–] FermiEstimate@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

While the adulteration surely didn't help, I don't think I'd trust pure milk from these cows, either:

Swill milk dairies were noted for their filthy conditions and overpowering stench both caused by the close confinement of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of cows in narrow stalls where, once they were tied, they would stay for the rest of their lives, often standing in their own manure, covered with flies and sores, and suffering from a range of virulent diseases. These cows were fed boiling distillery waste, often leaving the cows with rotting teeth and other maladies.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 6 points 7 months ago

That's beyond cruel, ffs

[–] scoobford@lemmy.zip 2 points 7 months ago

Probably most, although the disease likely didn't help.

There's a behind the bastards episode on this, formaldehyde was a popular additive to improve shelf life, as were several other horrible things. Most of the other additives were used to restore color, flavor, and texture after the milk had been diluted so heavily with water.