Food Politics

I haven’t drunk milk as a beverage since childhood, but I do use it in cooking and, of course, in my daily latte. I use yogurt and make wonderful buttermilk pancakes as well, so I guess I am a dairy user. I’m intrigued that you say raw milk tastes better and if I were to drink it as a beverage, that would be a reason to seek out a safe source.

However, the real issue over raw milk seems to be that a lot of people have fallen for the completely unsubstantiated idea that there are health benefits to raw milk and in their ignorance, they value this over the real risk of serious illness. Science education has failed a great many people in this country and something needs to be done about it.

I’d love to be able to buy some raw milk. I’ve tried three times to make homemade mozzarella to no avail because the milk at my grocery store is all ultra-pasturized. I would hope that the place selling it would ensure it was safe, as I imagine most of those selling raw milk are smaller farms to which a contaimination lawsuit would be devastating. It’s common sense–ultimately, the success of your business is determined by the quality of your products.

I wouldn’t buy raw milk from a large producer EVER. Too many things can go wrong. However I do buy it and drink it from smaller farmers, that I know. These people KNOW their consumers and know that if there is a problem they have to face those people getting sick. They understand the need to keep things clean in a way a large corporation would never understand. Further, in my state, Raw milk is legal and test regularly.

Bonnie has it right. Know your small farmer. The farm should be an open book and a pleasant place. If it is neither then go somewhere else.

Honestly, I just can’t believe that people are making such a fuss over something that affects such a small number of people. If people want to be so passionate about drinking raw milk why not let them? Sheesh.

With the amount of effort involved in finding raw milk from a farmer you trust, you would think people are only choosing it if they have a compelling reason for doing so.

I would definitely purchase raw milk — and use it for making various cultured dairy products — but only if I had a nearby source, and I really trusted that source. I don’t have that, so raw milk won’t be in my fridge anytime soon.

I think Jennelle makes a really good point though, and that is: there is a huge difference between pasteurized and ultra-pasteurized milk and that is something really worth educating the public about. How about a post on that topic, Ms. Nestle?

For myself, I buy non-homogenized (but pasteurized) whole milk from grass-fed cows at my local natural foods co-op. It works really great for anything I want to make, be it butter, cheese, or yogurt. It’s as close as I can get to the real thing while mitigating my risks of scary bacteria.

Everyone has to choose the level of risk they’re comfortable with — and frankly I think our government has much bigger things to worry about than a small percentage of the population who chooses to work very hard to find/pay for raw milk for their families.

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Personally I side with the ~7500 years of experience of man drinking unpasteurized milk. Had it been deadly, they would have stopped pretty early on. The story of pasteurization reads like an open book with dollar signs marked on the pages. The larger a production facility, the more chance for something to go wrong and affect a wide range of people – so you have to pasteurize. But a small farmer with a clean operation can produce healthy, living food for live bodies.

-Dan

We have been drinking raw milk daily from our neighbor’s farm for 6+ years — since our first daughter started eating things other than raw milk of human provenance . No problems so far, but perhaps it is too soon to tell…

I can’t say if there are tangible benefits above those of pasteurized (grass-fed) milk, but it tastes delicious. And makes for an even more delicious yogurt.

That’s a bit of a poor argument, Dan, because it really does negate the fact that stomach flora and the immune system are different creatures for those of us who live in First World countries than ancestors from 7500 years ago.

As for access to raw milk, I am quite eagerly looking forward to moving to a state where I will have access, so that I can have better success making my own cheeses. As Jennelle notes, it can be difficult to make cheese with store-bought milk. (UHP milk simply will not become cheese. Jennelle, try organic milk – it’s still not going to be as successful as raw milk, but it does work.)

It saddens me to see my fellow food activists taking this on. We have many more health problems related to people consuming too much dairy, of any sort, not to mention the environmental destruction and animal abuse caused by factory dairy farms all over the nation.

Instead of ensuring the “right to raw milk” for a privileged few we should be focused on outing Big Dairy’s massive brainwashing campaign that cow’s milk is an essential part of the human diet and the industry’s ongoing influence over the US dietary guidelines and food assistance programs, as Food Politics describes so well.

It’s definitely raw milk for me and my family – from a small local farmer we know and trust. My farmer is extremely concerned with the safety of the people who purchase their products, and their whole operation is transparent.

I don’t think of pasteurized milk as food – a good amount of the nutritional value is lost to pasteurization (a good number of beneficial enzymes, for instance). What’s the point of consuming a “safe” product (btw, people have been sickened from pasteurized milk, too, not to mention a host of other “safe” foods) if the nutritional value isn’t as good? That’s something each person needs to weigh for themselves.

I guess it is a question of how much we should intervene to protect children from the beliefs of their parents?

I don’t care at all if an adult wants to drink raw milk. I don’t get the point, but I don’t care.

I personally would never give my kids raw milk or unpasteurized cheese. To me, it is a risk with no compensating benefit. We choose organic, pasteurized milk (organic because I disagree with the overuse of antibiotics in our food supply).

But, as several of the comments here attest, there are plenty of parents who think otherwise. Their kids don’t really get the chance to make their own decision about the risks. In some cases like this (e.g., the use of bike helmets), we have laws that require parents to make the choice society has deemed “best”. In others (e.g., vaccination), we do not.

@MA- it is true that there are occasional outbreaks from pasteurized milk. But the frequency is far, far less. The fact of the matter is that your risk of contracting a food borne illness is much greater from raw milk. This is actually addressed well in the link Dr. Nestle provides. You think that there is some nutritional benefit that outweighs this risk. I disagree. What exactly do you think those “beneficial enzymes” are doing? It is very unlikely that they make it into your bloodstream (they are proteins, and proteins are in general digested in your stomach), so I presume there is some benefit you expect in your mouth, esophagus, or stomach?

Hi Marion,

A year ago, I never would have imagined myself drinking raw milk. But a few friends kept bugging me to try it. I’d tell them that I rarely consumed any dairy products due to my rather severe lactose intolerance. They insisted I would probably have no problems with raw milk. So I put it to the test. They brought me half a gallon, I took it home and, nervous but wanting to end the issue once and for all, drank a third of it. I waited for cramps to start… but none came.

I tried again the next day, in combination with food (buttery frosting) that would normally cause the same problem. Still – no problem. Ever since, I’ve been drinking a quart or two of raw milk a day. My three young kids drink it, too. The reason I want my family to drink the raw milk is similar to why I preferred my babies drink raw human milk: the pasteurization process kills much if not all of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes.

Why pasteurize if you don’t need to? Instead of relying on regulation and technology for food safety, I rely on a network of trusted friends. More and more, my family is opting out of grocery stores, buying directly from a small (Amish) farm, and we’ve even started growing our own food (for salads) in our front yard using the square foot gardening method. About 40-50% of our food $$ goes to the small farm.

Regarding Cloud’s post – I see in her blog that she is breastfeeding. Interesting. She is feeding her baby raw human milk… why? Would pasteurizing her milk change it in a way to make it less beneficial?

“The risk may be small, but it is finite.” — doesn’t this also sum up the problems for the consumer of peanut butter and packaged spinach? i hardly think that industrial food processes have created a risk free environment. and on the flip side, the industrialization of food has many, many negative social, economic and environmental impacts. while raw milk at its worst could cause sickness in the drinker but has a much more limited impact on the world

There are USDA certified organic raw milk farms in PA. This is where my family buys and the farmers tell me that these are scrupulously maintained to stay USDA certified. Do these exist in other states? Seems like a good option if you’re concerned with food safety issues.

Dirty cows = dirty milk = need to pasteurize. I don’t want even dead nasties in my milk. I live in the city, yet I know my milk farmer.

I want to make homemade mozzarella and it is nearly impossible to make it the right texture with pasteurized milk. Legalize freedom. let farm to table relationships prevail.

Wish I could buy raw milk but its illegal in GA. Can’t get raw almonds anymore either.
My research indicates that almost all contaminated foods come from large factory farms, whether it’s milk, spinach or whatever. If you saw “Food, Inc.,” you know. Raw and unprocessed foods are the healthiest. The FDA has no understanding of phytonutrients in food.

I don’t think that raw milk is a magic elixir, but I do think that eating high quality food, in general, is healthy. I believe that farm-to-consumer, unprocessed, grassfed milk is higher quality than GM cornfed-CAFO-tanker truck-processed milk.

Should I even bring up the fact that the majority of the world doesn’t drink milk, and that it’s a little weird that we drink another animal’s milk, and beyond infancy? Or would that just open a big can of worms? (Oops. Just did. )

Hah. Of course they want it regulated – it’s not a product that big agriculture can really compete with. It’s a boutique item that draw big dollars and competes with their product lines. Not only that, but it actually tastes far better, too.

Big agriculture (or any other big industry) is the first to cry foul when regulation is proposed on any of their own cash cows under the banner of “trust us, self-regulation works, we wouldn’t be around if we hurt our customers – and they deserve choices! Freedom!” but then turn around and say “the customer must be protected from untrustworthy businesses! Don’t let them take this risk!”. This just exposes that it’s not about the customer at all, merely protecting profits.

I’m for allowing raw milk sales within reason. Pasteurization is necessary because of the modern corporate food system. Bill Marler makes his living off suing people-particularly ones with deep pockets-but he doesn’t record the benefits. If heating kills bad germs, it also kills good germs.

[...] opinion, food safety expert and author Marion Nestle recently weighed in against drinking raw milk on her blog: Raw milk carries a greater risk of bacterial contamination than pasteurized milk and people who [...]

Comparing the “raw” human milk of breastfeeding to raw cow’s milk is a silly argument and has nothing to do with the dangers associated with raw milk–unless you pumped the breastmilk and leave it sitting out for some length of time and then bottle feed it to the baby–then it could cause the same sort of problems.

I wish people who offer comments about “enzymes” and other supposed health benefits would offer some references or credible links for these claims.

Thank you, Michele Simon, for bringing up the issues of factory dairy farming and milk consumption in general. I was going to make this argument as well, but decided to try to stick to the subject at hand. You are right to take this to a more basic level.

Chris Downey, you have set up a straw man argument that makes no sense. When I breastfeed, my human milk comes out sterile, directly to my baby’s mouth- so there is no chance of any bacterial contamination there.

I do pump and give bottles, since I also work. But I don’t do that in an environment contaminated with fecal bacteria. Also, if I am infected with a pathogenic strain of E. coli I know it, and would take extra precautions. Cows who harbor strains of E. coli that are pathogenic to humans show no signs of disease.

Human milk contains human antibodies and immune cells that are beneficial to my baby. Unpasteurized cow’s milk undoubtedly contains antibodies and immune cells that are beneficial to baby cows. I am not convinced that they would be beneficial to me.

I’m glad that raw milk helps with your lactose intolerance and allows you to drink milk if you want to. But are your kids lactose intolerant? It is rare that children are lactose intolerant. So what is the benefit to them?

If you re-read my original post, you’ll see that I don’t actually come to a conclusion about what we should do about raw milk. The only conclusion I can come to is that there is a definite increased risk to drinking it over drinking pasteurized milk, and that I don’t see any benefits sufficient to make me want to expose children to that risk.

Thank you, Antrho. Comparing raw human breast milk to raw cow’s milk IS a silly argument. Unlike a cow’s udder, human breasts are not located close to the anus, which greatly reduces the chance of fecal contamination in the milk. Also, unlike farm animals, humans have the ability to tightly control their personal hygiene by showering, washing their hands, using hand sanitizer, etc. Let me ask you this, Chris, would you feed your infant a bottle that had been left on the ground in a cow stall? Most parents wouldn’t, they would sanitize the bottle first. So why not pasteurize milk that has been sitting in a cow stall and next to defacating cows?
Human breast milk isn’t pasteurized becuase the nutrients present in human breast milk are key to development of human infants. The same can’t be said for bovine milk being fed to human infants. While there are some nutrients in bovine milk that can be processed by humans, the amounts present in raw milk is only slightly higher than in pasteurized milk. The bottom line in the safety department is that the risk is much greater than the reward. Science supports this. Period.
As far as the political, “freedom of choice” argument, raw milk should be treated like any other product on the market with which there are known risks associated; it should be age restricted and should be taxed. I agree, if an adult is aware of the risks and still wants to consume the product, then let them. However, there should be a penalty (i.e. tax) if they choose to consume a product with which there are known hazards because it’s my medical premiums that are going to suffer when they end up in the hospital.

I, too, buy my raw milk (and raw milk cheeses and eggs) from a small local dairy that I know and trust. My dairy producers are extremely motivated to ensure their products are safe because they sell directly to consumers like me, and one small slip can kill their business.

And for what it’s worth, I know a few people who have had food-borne salmonella and e. coli and they’re all folks who buy their food at supermarkets. Not scientific, I know, but regardless, it strengthens my resolve to get my food from places I trust.

P.S. I’m in Colorado, where it’s technically not legal to sell raw milk. Producers can get around this by selling “shares” of a cow or goat, so I pick up my milk and cheese when I go to the market to pick up my CSA share.

All other issues aside, raw milk and everything made with it simply taste worlds better. It’s like a backyard barbecue burger made with grass-fed beef versus a McDonald’s burger. I’ll never go back to the other stuff!

As a person who grew up on a dairy region, worked in dairy farming and dairy transportation, and who still eats and drinks lots of milk products, I am glad for pasteurization. (UHT pasteurization on the other hand is a crime against food quality and nature: it is solely a way for agribusiness to sell us old food, claiming it stays “fresher” longer.)

Anyone who has seen the business end of a cow knows that pasteurization is a good thing.

[...] Note:  The raw milk fights: economics, ideology, or both? by Marion Nestle first appeared at Food Politics on June 7, 2010.  Republished with permission [...]