Raw milk
[1] Proponents of raw milk have asserted numerous supposed benefits to consumption, including better flavor, better nutrition, contributions to the building of a healthy immune system and protection from allergies.
[2] However, no clear benefit to consumption has been found; the medical community notes there is increased risk of contracting dangerous milk borne diseases from these products.
[3] Substantial evidence of this increased risk, combined with a lack of any clear benefit, has led countries around the world to either prohibit the sale of raw milk or require warning labels on packaging when sold.
In the European Union, individual member states can prohibit or restrict the sale of raw milk, but it is not banned outright; in some member states, the sale of raw milk through vending machines is permitted, though the packaging will typically instruct consumers to boil before consumption.
[4] Humans first learned to regularly consume the milk of other mammals following the domestication of animals during the Neolithic Revolution or the development of agriculture.
This move successfully controlled the spread of highly contagious bacterial diseases, including E. coli, bovine tuberculosis, and brucellosis (all thought to be easily transmitted to humans through the drinking of raw milk).
[11] Recent advances in the analysis of milk-borne diseases have enabled scientists to track the DNA of the infectious bacteria to the cows on the farms that supplied the raw milk.
[12] The recognition of many potentially deadly pathogens, such as E. coli 0157 H7, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella, and their possible presence in poorly produced milk products has led to the continuation of pasteurization.
[13] Young children, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women are more susceptible to infections originating in raw milk.
[16] A thick mixture known as syllabub was created by milkmaids squirting milk directly from a cow into a container of cider, beer[17] or other beverage.
The United States Food and Drug Administration warned (as has been its long-standing position) that consumers should avoid raw milk because its ability to transmit influenza to humans is unknown, but pasteurization is believed to inactivate the virus.
[27] A high mortality rate was observed among cats that drank raw milk from cows displaying symptoms of H5N1 infection.
With modern pasteurization and sanitation practices, milk accounts for less than 1% of reported outbreaks caused by food and water consumption.
Exposure to raw milk containing harmful germs threatens infection, resulting from bacteria including Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella.
One of the potential pathogens in raw milk, Listeria monocytogenes, can survive the pasteurization process and contaminate post-pasteurization environments.
A review study published in the Journal of Food Protection showed that E. coli 0157:H7 can persist through the aging period of Gouda cheese.
Moreover, it seems that the observed increased resistance seems to be rather related to the exposure to a farm environment or to animals than to raw milk consumption.
"[23] For example, in the largest of these studies,[39] exposure to cows and straw as well as raw milk were associated with lower rates of asthma and exposure to animal feed storage rooms and manure with lower rates of atopic dermatitis; "the effect on hay fever and atopic sensitization could not be completely explained by the questionnaire items themselves or their diversity.
[43] Under EU hygiene rules, member states can prohibit or restrict the placing on the market of raw milk intended for human consumption.
[50] The raw milk has to be packed before vending, with the necessary information (producer, shelf life, and special warnings) written on the product.
[63] About 150 producers of raw milk are listed with the Food Standards Agency in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
No person shall sell the normal lacteal secretion obtained from the mammary gland of the cow, genus Bos, or of any other animal, or sell a dairy product made with any such secretion, unless the secretion or dairy product has been pasteurized by being held at a temperature and for a period that ensure the reduction of the alkaline phosphatase activity so as to meet the tolerances specified in official method MFO-3, Determination of Phosphatase Activity in Dairy Products, dated November 30, 1981.Provincial laws also forbid the sale and distribution of raw milk.
In January 2010, Michael Schmidt was found not guilty on 19 charges relating to the sale of raw milk in the Ontario Court of Justice.
[73] In British Columbia, Alice Jongerden, Michael Schmidt and Gordon Watson—persons involved in the operation of her raw milk dairy—attempted to avoid enforcement of a judgement against them under the Public Health Act by challenging the constitutionality of the legislation, which deems raw milk to be a hazardous product, on the grounds that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In 2009, the province of Quebec modified regulations to allow raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days, provided stringent safeguards were met.
[82] Before pasteurization, many dairies, especially in cities, fed their cattle on low-quality feed, producing milk rife with dangerous bacteria.
[83] The Cornell University Food Science Department has compiled data indicating that pathogenic microorganisms are present in between 0.87% and 12.6% of raw milk samples.
[85] Advocates of low-temperature vat pasteurization note that it produces a product similar to raw milk in composition.
[90] There is some indication of share owning cows, allowing the "owners" to consume the raw milk,[91] but also evidence that the government is trying to close this loophole.
[92] On 8 November 2015, four-year-old Apu Khangura died of hemolytic–uremic syndrome, and seven other children became seriously ill following the consumption of raw milk.
