Raw Milk Is Gaining Fans, but the Science Says It's Dangerous

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If the cows are kept clean and healthy, there is no reason to "pasteurize" the milk. All enzymes (which many people now have a deficiency in) are killed at temperatures over about 106 degrees. Pasteurization brings the temp to at least 145 degrees F, which kills everything healthful in the milk.

mary sparrowdancer of FL 5:43PM April 25, 2009

I own a herdshare here in Ohio and drink only raw milk. I can't drink the milkool-aid sold publicly due to being lactose intolerance. My friend doesn't need his acid reflux meds as long as he can drink his raw milk. Far more healthy ingredients are lost than what this article says. Regarding the FDA, if that agency approves it, I run the other way. The FDA, in my opinion, is an agency of the big pharmaceutical cartell and in no way do they have the best interests of the American people in mind when making decisions regarding our health. Natural cures can't be patented. There's no money in that. Most of the side effects of meds advocated by Big Pharma and the FDA are worse than the illness for which the med is being taken! They lie to us to make money. People, find out the truth about your body, how it works, and the food that fuels it.

Brenda Clark of OH 2:33PM April 20, 2009

TRUST THE FDA????

They are the big business suck ups that allowed the greedy drug manufacturers to add

formaldehyde and mercury to the MMR vaccines to give it a greater shelf life ,

thus destroying the brains of one in one hundred fifty children that received the vaccines

lots of money changed hands...natural occurring autism is one in six thousand children .

after finding out what was causing the astronomical jump in autism the FDA allowed the

greedy drug manufacturers to sell the large amounts already produced..again large amounts of money changed hands'';;''

NOW YOU KNOW THE TRUTH

Claude Wadsworth of AL 2:43AM April 18, 2009

In my country We buy Raw milk and Boil atleast once before consumption.I hope that is enough to kill all pathogenic creatures.

Mahendran 4:56AM April 09, 2009

There's so much misinformation in this article it's just silly. First, I trust the FDA about as far as I can through them. They care more about supporting big businesses and industries than being objectively scientific and promoting health. You are more likely to get sick from eating lunch meat than you are from drinking raw milk from healthy cows. Go read your history, people, about how pasteurizing started in this country. Humans have been drinking unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk for thousands of years. Thankfully the FDA is here to tell us that "No, really, it's BAD for you!" Good grief.

Do your own research. Stop the spread of ignorance (in everything) and do your research.

Jim of CA 10:27AM April 04, 2009

The CDC mention of 45 outbreaks implicated with raw milk is false - raw milk was implicated only subjectively by govt authorities, who are largely controlled by Big Dairy, but NEVER PROVEN. Raw milk gets the bad rap every time as a first response. For example, in the E.Coli outbreak that was eventually traced to spinach contaminated by manure lagoon runoff, raw milk was the original culprit because some of the victims incidentally drink raw milk. Organic Pastures in CA was shut down for a few weeks as being suspected but there was never any contamination found. Even though it was discovered that the source was spinach, raw milk continues to be included as "being implicated" in outbreaks. There has not been a positive link identified to raw milk in the time period specified, only dairy lobby-influenced allegations from the FDA and USDA toting the party line. In fact, all dairy-related outbreaks in the last 3 decades have been ultimately caused from PASTEURIZED milk products that were most likely caused by poor handling. You can look it up yourself, but you will have to dig a little to uncover that the actual proof against raw milk doesn't exist.

Yes, potentially dangerous organisms like E.Coli and Salmonella do indeed naturally exist in animals, including humans. You have E. Coli in your intestinal tract right now. However, natural unpasteurized/unhomogenized milk contains millions of beneficial bacteria that counter the pathogenic bacteria and prevent them from flourishing. Pathogens will not multiply in natural (raw) milk from healthy, pasture-fed cows. I leave natural milk out on the counter for 3-4 days until it seperates into whey and cream cheese; it's delicious. You can't do that wil pasteurized milk - it won't naturally sour, it putrifies.

Pasteurization kills all but the most dangerous bacteria, thereby destroying our first line of defense against them (i.e., the protective bacteria). This alone a greater health risk to the public, not to mention that the pasteurization and homogenization processes destroy the nutritive value of milk and render it arguably toxic for consumption.

Our family drinks natural milk and has for generations; none of us has ever contracted a dangerous illness from it. The key is that healthy milk comes from healthy, pastured, grass-fed cows. Drinking raw milk from typical feed-lot diaries that supply every supermarket chain in the US is indeed very dangerous because the cows are inhumanely raised on bare dirt or concrete on a diet of corn and soybeans that makes them sick. Sick bovines = sick milk full of mastitis pus and harmful bacteria.

Pasteurized milk is legally allowed to contain 10s of millions more bacteria than raw milk under the alleged benefit that it is killed, but it (pus and dead bacteria) is still in the milk. In addition, the ruptured bacteria release histamines into the milk as well, contributing to ever-growing cases of asthma and allergies.

Wort of CA 2:34PM March 31, 2009

I grew-up in rural India drinking unpasteurized milk & nothing has happened to me.

In India - we mostly drink & have been drinking unpasteurized milk.

However we NEVER EVER drink or use it raw - we ALWAYS boil it before using it.

I've never heard of anyone falling sick or any safety issues regarding that.

Pasteurized milk came into the picture in India just in the recent years.

Lekha of IA 1:38PM March 31, 2009

Pastuerization is important, keep it! Organic dairies offer safe, pasturized milk without the added antibiotis or unnatuarl feeds.

fredricka of NV 4:38PM March 22, 2009

Growth hormones, in milk, are a real threat to children. As a child in the early 50's I drank raw milk my parents purchased from a local dairy. The dairy farmer took really good care of his cows and we never had a problem.

RER of MT 3:32PM March 22, 2009

Way back in the 1920s , Undulent Fever was prevalant at that time. I remember my parents and the parents of my small friends were up in arms about passing laws that would demand that all dairy cow's milk whould be

pasteurised. I don't remember what year it was. Anyway it was a good law and thousands of children did not contract Undulant Rever. Pasteurised milk is much safer.

Marie

Marie Patten of LA 8:16AM March 22, 2009

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