Raw milk has SUCH a bad rap.
Mention highly processed and practically toxic nacho cheese Dorito’s and people line up to stuff their face. Talk about raw milk and they look at you like there’s a third eye in your forehead. Sheesh!
It Hasn’t Always Been This Way
For over 4000 years, since the creation of animals, milk has been consumed raw. The family business included owning cows or goats, and families drank the milk from their animals. Their animals grazed naturally on large, lush pastures and were treated as members of the family. Understandably too, given the family’s dependance on the animals as sources of food. Everyone could see first hand that feeding the animal a poor diet meant less than satisfactory milk and meat for the family.
In the early 1800s, the population in the United States began to grow rapidly. Families moved closer to industry and away from farms. All the while, the demand for dairy remained consistent and methods for safely distributing fresh, raw milk over long distances had not yet been developed. To keep up with demand, dairy farmers created urban dairies where abundant green grass was not available. Instead, dairy cows were fed a poor diet of leftover slop from whiskey distilleries. This new feeding method was easy, cheap, convenient, and regrettably, very efficient.
People began to get sick from this inferior milk. Scarlet fever and typhoid spread like wild fire. Nearly half of all deaths in New York City in 1839 were of infants, their deaths due to diarrhea or tuberculosis, attributed to unhygienic milk – NOT raw milk.
The Proposed Solution to the Growing Concerns
With the fattened pocketbooks of the dairy industry at stake, the push for pasteurization began. The proposed method was to heat the milk to 160 degrees, thereby killing the harmful bacteria that caused these widespread diseases. At the same time, heating the milk to such a high temperature also destroys good bacteria, protective enzymes and many beneficial nutrients.
For the next 60 years, the fight between raw and pasteurized milk ensued. A group of doctors, social workers and milk distributors argued in 1907 that milk could be guaranteed safe through inspections, and not pasteurization. Sadly, their efforts were defeated.
Shortly after founding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), President Roosevelt selected a panel of “experts” in 1908 who came to the conclusion that the milk itself – not the dirty employees, poor animal feed and substandard sanitation methods of the urban dairies – was to blame. Soon thereafter, the FDA urged states to require pasteurization and by 1949, the pasteurization of milk was signed as law across the nation.
In 150 short years, man ruined and soiled what had been deemed good and sufficient by our Creator. Instead of fixing the source of the problem, we put on a band-aid and crossed our fingers that it would hold.
Is Pasteurization the Answer? Or a New Problem?
Despite legislation declaring pasteurization the end-all, fix-all solution to disease caused by extremely contaminated conditions, outbreaks of salmonella, E. coli, food poisoning, Listeria and campylobacter have been and continued to be reported – all of these outbreaks stemming from pasteurized milk.
Not all dairy cows whose milk is destined for pasteurization are required to be inspected. In turn, some dairy farms (not all) could take advantage of this and be lax in their own cleanliness and standards for handling both the finished milk and the animals. On the other hand, dairy farms who are licensed to sell raw milk are tested regularly for disease.
The lack of sanitation has caused some strains of the previously mentioned bacteria to be resistant to penicillin and tetracycline, two of the most commonly used human antibiotics. This leaves us to wonder if the crowded living conditions and overuse of antibiotics in factory farms has indeed helped to contribute to the spread of disease and illness.
When Pasteurization Goes Beyond Being a Band-Aid
Real, whole foods were designed to be self-sufficient in terms of digestion. Meaning, each food already has what the body requires to properly digest it. Real food also includes additional vitamins and minerals that help the body fight off illness and disease.
Pasteurization removes much, if not all, of the vitamins and minerals in the milk. If by a slim chance there were any nutrients left, our bodies are unable to assimilate and absorb them, because pasteurization also kills the beneficial enzymes our bodies need to break the nutrients down. Fortified milk, which most commercial milk is, includes synthetic vitamins, added to replace what was lost during processing.
Where raw milk contains natural vitamins and minerals our bodies need to function, to heal, to thrive, pasteurized milk contains none of that. Almost everything bad has been killed, but everything good has been killed as well.
If pasteurized milk contains nothing beneficial, then what’s the point of drinking it? Unless you culture it, it’s officially dead, processed food.
Could the Rest of the World Have it Backwards?
Raw milk is legal for consumption in Canada, and legal for both sale and consumption in Africa, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and in all 27 countries in the European Union. In fact, raw milk is sold in vending machines in Italy, France and Germany (plus six other countries).
If raw milk is so dangerous, why hasn’t it been banned across the world?
If pasteurization is so safe, why hasn’t it been adopted as law in every nation?
30 Minute Dinners Sample Meal Plan
Sign up to get instant access to my 30 Minute Dinners Sample Meal Plan, complete with recipes and step-by-step instructions!Obviously I haven’t covered everything there is to cover on raw milk, but I wanted to at least get your wheels turning as we discuss this topic throughout the dairy series. More on this topic to come for sure, but I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section!
I had a job installing smart meters for Pacific Power. My I was working in Cresent City CA, and one day I happened to have several meters next to a decent size dairy.
The dairy had a big covered shed that they used to milk the cows.
As I was working, I could hear sloshing. At first I thought maybe it was the sound of the milk going through the system. No that wasnt it.
As I finished my last meter, before leaving I walked over and looked inside.
That was the nastiest thing I’ve ever seen. There were birds from one end to the other eating the flies that were everywhere.
And that sloshing sound I heard, it was cow urine, the cows were walking and splashing around I’m their own urine.
Now somehow that’s the safe, human milk.
Yet the small mom and pop farms with the two or three Jersy Cows, where the farmer cleans the cow with warm water before milking the cow is unsafe because it pasturized!
My grandparents live in France and raw milk is indeed legal and sold in vending machines. As far as I know, there is no direction to boil before consumption.
I’ve been drinking raw milk from either goats or cows most of my life and I’ve never gotten sick from it. (I’ve eaten my share of raw farm fresh egg yolks too, with no ill effects) I grew up keeping milk goats, and I currently help with milking on two herd share raw milk dairies. I’ve visited several raw milk farms and seen both scrupulously clean operations and sketchy operations.
Know where your food is coming from: visit your farmer and watch them milk. It’s not the milk that’s dangerous. It’s what can get into it due to poor cleanliness standards or careless processing methods.
Clean, raw milk from grass-fed cows is so much better than milk from the store! It tastes better (richer, fuller) and is so much healthier without all that processing. Humans are meant to eat real food, not stuff that has been super-heated and homogenized.
My grandparents owned a small dairy farm. They fed their five children raw milk in their baby bottles (breastfeeding was considered inferior at the time.) My grandfather kept the cows and barns scrupulously clean and they were very careful about sterilizing all of the equipment properly and keeping the cows udders healthy.
If I owned my own cow, or personally knew the cow giving the milk, I would consider giving a child over the age of one raw milk. I would not give a child raw milk that I purchased at a grocery store or farmers market without actually going to the farm in question. A child under the age of one should only be given human breastmilk or formula, longer if possible.
It is very easy and common for raw milk to become contaminated during the milking process. Few of the diseases carried by raw milk are fatal (though they can be) most commonly people will just have a few days of intense diarrhea and vomiting, similar to an outbreak of salmonella.
Drinking raw milk is similar to consuming uncooked eggs. As an adult, I eat raw eggs in some dishes, such as homemade mayonnaise or ice cream or cookie dough. I am careful about where I buy my eggs, but I have gotten salmonella from eating foods containing raw egg before. It is rare, but in the past two decades, it has happened maybe three times. Getting salmonella is really horrible, but for me, as a healthy adult, it is a risk I am willing to take in order to enjoy the sampling the cookie dough or cake batter.
But I would not give any foods containing raw egg to an infant, a pregnant woman, or anyone else with a compromised immune system. Similarly, I would not give raw milk to anyone other than a healthy adult. The known risks are simply not worth the alleged benefits.
Thank you for taking the time to share Tarynkay. I know we all appreciate the different insights and points of view on these type of issues. 🙂
Hi Tiffany,
Loved your article!
Just wanted you to know that I live in Australia, and it is illegal to buy Raw Milk here.
Thank you,
Sally 🙂
Thanks Sally!
Unfortunately, one correction to make: The sale of raw milk is illegal across Canada by federal law. Provincial laws prohibit the sale of raw milk other than to a processor for pasteurization. In the province of B.C., raw milk is legally defined as a “health hazard” and “causing a health hazard” incurs a fine of up to $3M or 3 yrs in jail. And, herdshares are not recognized by the courts as being legal so herdshares farmers are prosecuted whenever they are found by the health authorities. It is legal to *consume* raw milk in Canada — but it is illegal to sell it, distribute it, or in some places even give it your neighbour.
Thank you for the clarification! 🙂
Dear Tiffany,
I’m still a bit undecided on perhaps getting raw milk, but I just want to point out that while your article has a few strokes of genius at some points, it could definite use a lot of editing to sound a bit more legitimate.
First off, please drop the conspiracy theories. They do no one good and may even serve to mislead. If you are going to make accusations (“fattened pocketbooks of the dairy industry at stake, the push for pasteurization began”), please use SUBSTANTIAL evidence to back it up. If not well documented, this claim would immediately make many viewers immediately dismiss your entire argument off-hand. Besides, does it really figure into the question whether raw milk is better than pasteurized milk?
Actually. Wait. No. So much of your arguments and claims are not backed by any citations, I’m wondering if you’re actually being serious. The only two sources/citations you have are linked to two very shady looking text-only HTML websites… AND THEIR BOTH BY THE SAME AUTHOR??? Please use some more reputable sources, eg documentation from countries in the EU that DO support sales of raw milk [Germany, France], as the current article as it stands is quite weak under critical analysis)
Some are in fact, downright wrong! (It is in fact, not legal to sell raw milk directly to consumers in Canada)
Also, these rhetorical questions don’t hold up under scrutiny?!? It’s just following the old bandwagon fallacy!
“If raw milk is so dangerous, why hasn’t it been banned across the world? If pasteurization is so safe, why hasn’t it been adopted as law in every nation?”
That’s like asking “If guns are so dangerous, why isn’t it banned across the world?” “If seat belts are so safe, why hasn’t it been adopted as law in every nation?”
Welcome to Crumbs E.Huntiger!
If my ideas seem like conspiracy, then I should clarify them. At the turn of the century, the only reason pasteurization was pushed by lawmakers was because they were convinced that NOT passing laws would harm the profits being made by the dairy industry from slop milk (milk that came from cows fed the leftover slop from whiskey distilleries). People were getting sick, and something had to be done. It was either stop slop milk (which meant huge losses of money and even some loss of businesses) or pasteurize it. Instead of fixing the true issue (slop), they chose to put a band-aid on it to keep profits. That is not conspiracy. Every book and article written on the history of pasteurization that I have found backs this up. This argument does not factor into whether raw milk is better than pasteurized. I have yet to write a post comparing the nutrition of each, and while I believe raw milk offers many benefits that pasteurized milk does not, every family must make the decision of which is better for themselves.
Another reader also commented on sources for international milk sales. You can find my link there.
My rhetorical questions are not meant to be held up under scrutiny – there’s merely to get your wheels turning on raw milk. Many people believe what they do because it’s what they’ve been taught – through media, government or even just common sense – rather than doing their own research on the topic. My questions are intended to entice the reader to think for themselves and not believe everything they read (including my own posts if they so choose).
If you have any specific questions on this post, or any other post, I’d be glad to answer them for you. 🙂
~Tiffany
Yes please. Clarification would be great. Could you start by updating the article with all sources up you’ve been using, please?
For example: “Instead of fixing the true issue (slop), they chose to put a band-aid on it to keep profits. That is not conspiracy. Every book and article written on the history of pasteurization that I have found backs this up”.
That’s a pretty bold claim, and one that you’re really going to need to back that up with sources. Please list, for example, “every book and article…” that you’ve read (or at least 10-15 of the most important ones). Without knowing what you’ve read, it’s hard to judge the credibility of your sources which that argument is based on. For all I know, you could have been reading your 5-year old kindergarten classes’ collection of poems. And a literary analysis of those poems. And the literary analysis of those literary analysis. And a summary of the literary analysis of that literary analysis…
TLDR: I don’t know if what you’ve read that convinced you is something that has enough merit to convince me. I also don’t know if the plethora of sources you’ve read are not redundant and circular owing to intellectual incest.
I also couldn’t find the the link on the comment of international sources. I don’t suppose you would mind updating with link? Thx!
Great comment. Saved me a lot of typing. I will add that the lack of citations is very common with bloggers, and unfortunately the reason I disregard any information that isn’t cited. If it’s not cited, it’s merely opinion, and additionally, why only scientific backed studies are considered of value. Say what you will about the CDC, FDA, etc., but if a piece such as this was posted by such an entity, there would be at least a dozen or more studies cited to support the findings.
I’ve seen first hand raw milk cure eczema on my child, his skin no longer itches & those troublesome areas are back to normal! I hated using hydrocortizone on my child’s skin…I never felt that truly was taking care of the root problem. Do you have a post regarding HOW I should properly clean the glass jars that I have raw milk put in?
Hi Mrs W!
I don’t have a post on how to properly sterile jars, as I’ve been given jars pre-filled with the raw milk, but I’ve added it to my list of topics to cover in this series.
I think it’s wonderful that raw milk has cured your son’s eczema. I’ve been talking with some friends who have also experienced similar healing properties from milk. I pray that it becomes more affordable for more people soon! 🙂
I am on the fence about buying raw milk for my family – my main issue is trusting that the milk I buy is safe – I don’t want to gamble with my children’s health. There are some scary stories out there!! I wish we could fit a cow in our backyard so we could milk it ourselves 😉
No we don’t buy organic either, due to cost and no real added benefits, IMO. Organic milk is more that double the cost of our current brand and would up the milk budget to $100/month. The regular stuff I buy is hormone free and supposedly the farmers “pledge” not to use antibiotics. Not perfect, but definitely a plus on a tight budget. My efforts to get rid of foods with artificial ingredients has also upped the food budget quite a bit, so can’t quite squeeze in organic stuff. Thanks for the reply and a lovely blog!
I don’t thing raw milk is a “bad guy”. I think in MOST cases it is perfectly safe, BUT as someone who has gotten horribly ill 3 times from ingesting raw dairy on 3 separate occasions, I am always suspicious and now will always avoid it. It is also insanely expensive around here and even if it did not make me sick I could not afford to buy it. $7.50 per half gallon, and at a rate of 4 gallons per week for this family… that’s a milk budget increase from $44 per month to over $275 per month. And since we have no food allergies or health problems, it is a cost that I cannot justify. But for those who tolerate ingesting it and can afford it, it should be more easily available.
I’m so sorry you got sick from raw dairy Pam! Given that and your exponential increase in groceries, I can understand why you wouldn’t go raw. Out of curiosity, with 4 gallons/week, do you buy organic milk?
I’m a raw milker and right now I’m starting the gaps diet with my infant as he is introduced to solids. What are your feelings on giving raw milk to infants? I have made my own raw milk yogurt and plan to give him some raw kefir. I’m more wary of giving him straight up raw milk later in the diet especially before he turns a year as I feel that straight milk other than breastmilk is too difficult to digest, but maybe that only applies to pasteurized milk..
If you are breastfeeding, there’s no need to give them any diary products. After stopping breastfeeding, if they are 1yo or over, they can eat and drink anything. I hope this helps!!
Hi Sharon! I see Xenia has answered you, and I would agree with her statement – although know that I am not a medical professional, just another mom who’s nursed her own two kids. 🙂 I gave my kids milk before they were 1 year old since they weaned early, but knowing what I know now, I’d likely have either waited for raw, or made my own formula from NT.
This is a very interesting article and it has introduced me to very intersting issues. However, I’d like to add something to the discussion. I’m from Europe, and yes, you can buy raw milk here, BUT you are supposed to boil it before consumption, and so it does state on the packets. Therefore, you are kind of pasteurizing it yourself. OF course you culd skip the process, but my point is that it is not sold to be consumed as such, like you are suggesting. I would also like to add that it is not true that our bodies are prepared to digest cow’s milk (or any other animal’s milk). However, I do agree with many of the things you say about intensive agriculture. I do think that we should actually slow down on the consumption of animal products so that intensive farms were not needed anymore!
I see – thank you for clarifying the overseas issue Xenia. I don’t think we should consume LESS animal products, rather better quality. I think if there was a demand for quality food rather than cheap food, the farms would be VERY different indeed!
I certainly agree. But we, as consumers, are really the only ones that can and will change that in this capitalist based society. I think we’re getting the ball rolling as there are more and more stores offering organic/sustainable food stuffs. I get my raw milk at The Market which is a co-op store that also sells to non-members.
I went to raw milk as I can’t tolerate pasteurized anymore, due to surgery, and really dislike the taste of lactose free milk. I was raised on raw milk and always loved it. My dad used to milk the neighbors’ Jersey cow and we would make butter by shaking it in Mason jars. Boy, a glass of that milk was a meal in itself!
I am a dairy producer in VA and we do drink raw milk. I agree that the benefits are very good. I do take issue that farms/dairy parlors that produce milk that is destined to be pasteurized are not inspected. My farm is inspected on a regular basis. We cannot be grade A producers without. We take GREAT care to clean and maintain our facilities. We take even better care of the the cows. They deserve a good life with good food. We spend every day of our lives caring for a group of girls that keep a roof over our heads. We become very attached to them and hate to see one die or leave the farm. I enjoy reading your blog but keep in mind that not all conventional farms and farmers are bad as much propaganda leads the general public to believe.
My apologies Martha – I updated the post to reflect your comment and my sources. I do realize that not EVERY farmer is lax in their care, but not requiring the same rules of everyone creates a loophole for some to take advantage of unfortunately. I sincerely wish there were more farmers – both dairy and others – that cared for their animals as much as you and your family! 🙂 Not only would it be better for the animals, but I believe we wouldn’t have as many issues with disease if that were the case.
I’m looking forward to this series. Personally, I don’t drink milk — I just don’t like it — but I use it in cooking and baking. When my son was little, he went through more than a gallon a week. Now he’s slowed down a bit. Not too long ago we committed to buying organic milk. In my state, a half gallon of organic milk costs roughly the same as a gallon of regular milk. I’ve been thinking about raw milk, and I know of a few local options for purchasing it. I think this series will help me decide.
As a non-milk drinker, I wonder Does raw milk has a different taste than processed?
The cost of raw milk is very similar here in CA too Julie. I hope the series helps you to decide too! Nope, raw milk tastes just like processed, but maybe a bit richer, if that makes sense? Not like filling, but more of a milk taste. It’s not very noticeable, so I think that if you put two glasses side by side, you likely wouldn’t notice. 🙂
Actually processed milk, especially skin to 2% some times gets a almost chalky taste to it. Whole milk can get this taste too, but usually isn’t as noticable.
I’ve read that this odd flavor is due to the pasteurization and homogenization.
Raw milk doesn’t have this odd flavor.
I think it tastes wonderful. I’m am a milk connoisseur, few things beat a delicious ribeye steaks and a big glass of milk.
I used to drink organic milk before I found my wonderful raw milk farm and was able to purchase a herdshare. What I have found out was that while I thought organic was a better option, it’s ultra pasturized which means that there is virtually nothing good in it at all. So I was paying the same amount for organic that I am paying now for raw and getting none of the benefits.
The more we demand raw milk hopefully we will be heard. I would love to buy it in the store!!