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Raw Milk Consumption
Key Points
- Raw milk refers to dairy products from animals, such as cows, sheep, goats, and others, that have not been pasteurized to kill harmful germs.
- Pasteurization refers to a heating process that kills germs that are commonly found in livestock feces and can easily contaminate animal products.
- The heating process known as pasteurization does not change the nutritional value of milk and the pasteurization process has never been found to cause disease or developmental problems.
- Due to the clear health benefits, >99% of the milk sold in the United States is pasteurized.
- Consuming raw milk can lead to serious health risks, especially for people at higher risk for disease such as those with weakened immune systems, children, older adults, and people who are pregnant.
Choosing pasteurized milk and dairy products is the best way to safely enjoy the nutritional benefits of milk.
Dangers of Raw Milk Consumption
- There is overwhelming scientific evidence that raw milk can be a source of harmful germs that can cause human disease.
- Some of the microbes that cause disease, or pathogens, that can be found in raw milk products include Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Campylobacter, Listeria, Yersinia, Brucella, Mycobacteria, and Cryptosporidium, among others.
- These microbes may be found in milk following contamination from the skin of the animal’s udder, the milking equipment, or the hands of the people milking the cows. They can also sometimes be shed directly into the milk from an udder that is clinically free of signs of disease.
Pasteurization
- Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, discovered that heating liquids (milk, beer, wine, etc.) to high temperatures for short periods of time would kill germs without changing the product’s taste.
- By using heat to kill germs in “raw” milk, pasteurization extends a product’s shelf life and greatly reduces food-borne illnesses.
- Louis Pasteur’s discoveries revolutionized medicine, food safety, and agriculture.
Why is pasteurization needed?
- High-producing dairy cows produce more than 10 gallons of milk and over 100 pounds of manure per day.
- Healthy appearing dairy animals may sometimes shed bacteria directly into their milk when they have subclinical (no symptoms) infections.
- It is unpleasant to think about, but most commonly, germs that get into milk come from animal feces. Germs found in the environment, or associated with dairy animals, can contaminate milk at any point in the production process.
- The microbes that can contaminate milk are shed in the feces of healthy cows and are not necessarily a reflection of an unhealthy herd or a poorly run dairy farm—they are simply a normal part of raising livestock.
- With thousands of pounds of manure and hundreds of gallons of milk a day, even on the cleanest farms, microscopic poop particles can work their way into the milk product.
Dairy Safety
Prior to Pasteurization
- Prior to the adoption of pasteurization in the early 1900’s, dairy products caused 25% of all food-related disease outbreaks in the United States.
- With modern pasteurization, pasteurized dairy products are implicated in less than 1% of foodborne outbreaks.
Pasteurization is one of the great public health advances of the last 100 years!
Modern Day
- The hardworking farmers and sanitarians that comprise the US dairy industry are well trained and highly regulated to ensure safety.
- The dairy industry, and state public health and agricultural departments, monitor the production of dairy products from the farm, through the processing plant and distribution system, to the consumer.
- Dairy plants are licensed and routinely inspected.
- Dairy farms are permitted and inspected to ensure that milk is produced from healthy cows on well-run farms.
- The milking parlor and dairy equipment are monitored to ensure compliance with regulations and to minimize raw milk contamination.
- New facilities are inspected prior to licensing to ensure the milk handling equipment is well designed and correctly installed to prevent contamination of the milk.
- Technical evaluation of the pasteurization equipment ensures all the fluid milk reaches the required pasteurization temperature for the right amount of time to eliminate pathogenic organisms.
- Pasteurization systems are sealed to prevent tampering or manipulation of the equipment after inspection.
Can organic milk be pasteurized?
- Yes – these are two separate issues – organic farming and pasteurization.
- The term organic refers to a set of standards applied to how the dairy cows are fed and raised on the farm.
- The term pasteurization refers to a dairy processing safety step that occurs to ensure the health and wellness of dairy consumers.
- Organically produced dairy can be pasteurized or raw, and traditionally produced dairy can be pasteurized or raw.
- Consumers choosing organic dairy products should choose pasteurized organic dairy products if food safety is important to them.
Health Benefits of Pasteurized Dairy
- Drinking raw milk is more dangerous than drinking pasteurized milk.
- Pasteurized milk offers the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.
- Choosing pasteurized milk and dairy products is the best way to safely enjoy the nutritional benefits of milk.
Dairy Product Safety
- Choose pasteurized milk and dairy products.
- Refrigerate perishable foods at 40°F or colder to slow bacterial growth. Never leave perishable food out for more than two hours -- or one hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F, like in a hot car or at a picnic.
- Throw away expired or spoiled food. When in doubt, throw it out!
Raw Milk and Influenza A(H5N1) Virus
- A common misconception is that people can develop immunity to viruses, like H5N1, by drinking raw milk that contains the live virus.
Consuming a live virus does NOT protect you from the disease the virus causes. It will most likely give you the disease and make you sick.
- The only way to be inoculated against a disease is by using a vaccine, many of which use weakened or inactive forms of the virus to make your body develop an immune response without actually exposing you to the full-strength virus and the illness that goes with it.
- Pasteurization has been demonstrated to inactivate H5N1 virus. No live H5N1 virus has ever been identified in pasteurized milk.
