So what's with all the controversy regarding raw milk? The biggest concern over raw milk is that humans can contract tuberculosis or brucellosis from contaminated milk. In a child, senior, or an immunocompromised individual, TB (tuberculosis) can bring swift death. Hence the strict laws imposed and the uproar against raw dairy products.
I'd like to alleviate some concerns.
First of all, regulations regarding the production and bottling processes of raw milk in the USA are much stricter than they are for pasteurized milk. All the equipment is cleaned frequently. The pumps are cleaned after every use. The bottles and lids are sterilized several times. Everything is sterilized every single time there is ever a possibility of cross-contamination from something in the environment, because the farmers simply cannot afford to have even one minor case of contamination. Remember when a little girl died from drinking Odwalla juice, so Odwalla decided to pasteurize beverages from then on?
Not only are the cows at these raw milk producing farms tested more frequently, but their equipment is cleaned far more often. Furthermore, the milk is quite often from cows that have not been given hormones or antibiotics. Because they are not on antibiotics, they must be given plenty of space to roam and cannot stay in cramped quarters. Because they are not given extra hormones, they must be happy to produce milk. And unlike Odwalla, if a small dairy farm has one minor contamination issue, they can say goodbye to business. They just don't have the funds to make up for it.
Keep in mind, if a cow at a dairy farm, even at an organic farm gets a bacterial infection, she is immediately given antibiotic treatment! Her milk is not used for a few months until she has been tested clean. This is why on occasion you will find traces of antibiotics even in organic milk. It happens. Our country's laws are already protecting us. Cows with TB are treated, and often culled (pulled from the breeding and milk production pool, usually sent to the slaughterhouse). Cows with Burcellosis are killed. Sad, yes. But it prevents the spread.
In contrast to raw organic milk (which will be "free range" by natural requirement, because crowded quarters are not conducive to good health and happy cows), conventional milk is produced at facilities which:
1. Load their cows up on meds (antibiotics and hormones),
2. Sterilize their equipment maybe once per day, if even that, and
3. Pasteurize to make up for any possible cross-contamination that may have occurred. [Want Video Evidence? See: Pasteurized milk 150 times more contaminated with blood, pus and feces than fresh milk - videos the CDC won't show you Please note that the "150 times" estimate is ironical.]
Have you heard of Louis Pasteur, the inventor of the pasteurization process? Here's the issue people were facing back in his day (and really, still face): Milk can become contaminated quite easily.
Manure, dirt or grass can be on the udder of a cow, so you must wash and sterilize her teats. If the person milking the cow is sick or has dirty hands, that person can contaminate the milk. The milking equipment can contaminate the milk. The bottle can contaminate the milk. The lid can contaminate the milk. Heck, even a gust of wind carrying a bit of yeast & fungus-filled dirt could potentially contaminate the milk.
Previous to Pasteur's time, scientists and microbiologists took note that children who drank milk died more frequently. This is because milk was a common way to for people to contract "consumption" (i.e. bovine tuberculosis), and children were especially susceptible to mortality from the infection. Further, people in crowded conditions were more likely to transfer the infection (just as cows in crowded conditions are). We know now that it can be transferred via cough or sneeze (water droplets). In any case, it was obvious that the people in cities and small farms couldn't uncrowd themselves, so the process of pasteurization was adopted in these areas. Mortality rates dropped significantly and Louis Pasteur was hailed as a savior of the children.
Here's the interesting thing, though. Studies have demonstrated that in areas where people and animals were not crowded, the introduction of pasteurization actually caused an increase in infant and child mortality rate.
Why is this? Perhaps it's the destruction of the useful A and D vitamins, the breakdown of enzymes, and denaturing of some proteins, especially the useful bacteria. (Hooray for probiotics!) Perhaps the destruction of useful bacteria leaves the milk more susceptible to cross-contamination. Who knows?
I posit that pasteurized milk is more dangerous here in the USA because testing standards for the cows, hygiene standards for employees and sanitation standards for equipment at the conventional dairy farms are far too lax because "Big Dairy" has become overly reliant on the pasteurization process.
Somewhat tangential, but related, I read a few years ago that only 1 in 17,000 organic, free-range eggs have salmonella, whereas about 1 in 300 conventional eggs have salmonella. Based on what I can find now, the rate of salmonella infection amongst birds at conventional farms is still way higher than at organic farms. [See: Organic poultry far less prone to salmonella than conventional, study finds]
Again, this all comes down to crowding. Poultry that cannot be given regular antibiotics will not live long in crowded conditions. If you always wondered why Washington Grown chicken tastes so much better than Southern Grown chicken, you now know why: WA banned use of antibiotics and hormones in poultry long ago, so our chickens roam free, getting exercise and gobbling up all the good plants and insects they like and roosting comfortably at night.
Observing this and knowing how TB and other bacteria are spread, I can only imagine that organic beef and dairy farms have naturally adopted "free range" practices for similar reasons. Hey, my grandfather and his father raised cattle. I've been to several dairy farms. I know how these things work.
Other contamination concerns regarding raw milk include E. coli, salmonella and listeria.
Look, we've had fewer cases of E. coli in milk than Europe has had in raw tomatoes, fewer cases of salmonella in milk than we've had in raw peanuts and lettuce, oh and it seems we now have to worry about listeria from peanut butter as well? (Just Google it.)
How many E. coli, salmonella or listeria related deaths have we had in the past decade due to raw milk? Zero. [See: CDC admits not a single person has died from consuming raw milk products in 11 years and an article in the UK Is raw milk really safe to drink?] Guess what really puts you at risk for E. coli infection. Ground beef. [See: CDC Info on Escherichia Coli 0157:H7]
All of this said, I caution children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems to avoid raw milk. If you fall into one of these categories, you should probably stick to pasteurized organic, free-range milk if you can get it. As I said, TB can kill a weak individual swiftly. If you do drink raw milk, watch for symptoms of illness. TB causes coughing, night sweats, and eventually extreme weight loss (hence its old name of "consumption"). Weight loss is the biggest indicator that a person will die soon. Get your TB vaccines if you can, though remember that they are not 100% effective! Brucellosis infection has less extreme symptoms - sweating, fevers, weakness, anemia, head or muscle aches, etc. - and it is far less likely to be fatal. Educate yourself and make the decision based on your needs.
Normal, healthy adults would benefit most from raw milk, in my opinion, given its many nutrients. Many asthmatics and people who complain of milk allergies and sensitivities have found that raw milk does not cause the problems that pasteurized milk does. (Though sometimes even just making a switch to organic has a positive health effect.) Also, raw milk is so freaking delicious!
Seriously, the first time I ever tried Claravale Farm's raw milk, I fell in love. Once I even purchased skim milk by accident (I usually buy whole), but it was so rich and creamy, I didn't even notice! [See: http://claravaledairy.com/] Strauss is my favorite company who offers pasteurized organic milk. [See: Straus Family Creamery] I've found both of these brands at Whole Foods.
For more interesting reads, check out the following!
• The Fight for Safe Milk: Pasteurization
• Louis Pasteur
• Raw Milk Causes More Dairy-Related Illness Than Pasteurized: CDC
• CDC Cherry Picks Data to Make Case Against Raw Milk (My Favorite)
