Epicurious.com, a website about food consumption, stated in the entry for milk in its "Food Dictionary" (accessed Sep. 25, 2008):
"Raw milk, usually only commercially available in health-food stores, has not been pasteurized. Advocates say it's better nutritionally because vitamins and natural enzymes have not been destroyed by heat. The dairies that are certified to sell raw milk have rigid hygiene standards and their herds are inspected regularly. But the milk is still not pasteurized and therefore carries some potential risk of disease."
Ron Shmid, ND, a naturopathic physician, outlined the laws governing sales of raw milk in his 2003 book The Untold Story of Milk:
"Twenty-five states technically allow on-farm sales of raw milk, but nearly all place restrictions on the farmer by limiting the amount he may sell, banning advertising, imposing excessive fees or regulations, or allowing local town Boards of Health to ban sales. Two of those 25 states limit sales to raw goat milk... Eleven of these 25 states have provisions allowing for some retail sales, but in most such sales are limited by many of the same restrictions... In practice, however, raw milk is available in stores only in Arizona, California, Connecticut, and Maine...
Six states allow sales of raw milk for animal consumption only, without requiring the addition of dyes... Two states make all sales of raw milk illegal with the exception of raw goat milk when prescribed in writing by a licensed physician... In two states, Montana and Washington, the situation is murky. Regulations could be interpreted to allow sales of raw milk but state officials do not follow these interpretations... Sixteen additional states and the District of Columbia make all sales of raw milk illegal...
In 1986, the federal government banned all interstate shipments of raw milk, cream and butter."
[Editor's Note: ProCon.org received an e-mail from the Weston A. Price Foundation on Sep. 27, 2007, alerting us to the fact that as of Dec. 1, 2004, the states of Washington, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina also began allowing the sale of raw milk in stores. That brings the total to eight states that allow in store sales of raw milk (This information was confirmed by ProCon.org through additional research in Sep. 2007 and again in Sep. 2008). For a listing of all state laws pertaining to raw milk please see: Raw Milk Statutes PDF (261KB)]
Theodore Beals, MD, former pathologist at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Ann Arbor, MI, in the case of Organic Pastures v. State of California, provided the following testimony on Apr. 25, 2008, in support of raw cow's milk and against CA legislation (AB 1735) which regulated coliform levels in raw milk:
“Beneficial bacteria provide benefits in a number of ways…[o]ne of the ways that they provide benefit is by producing specific substances which kill other [harmful] bacteria. Another way that they are beneficial to people is that they inhibit the growth of other [harmful] bacteria indirectly rather than just simply killing them. Additionally, they have been shown -- beneficial bacteria have been shown to block the entrance of [harmful] bacteria into the body, therefore preventing the illness…
Prebiotic is a substance which when introduced to beneficial bacteria stimulates their growth or stimulates their beneficial activity. A probiotic is defined technically as bacteria, beneficial bacteria, which when added to a product or as a supplement provides those beneficial bacteria to the person that's drinking the milk. My personal take on this is it's obvious from the definitions that fresh market -- raw market milk is in fact a prebiotic. It does stimulate beneficial organisms. And although not technically meeting the definition of a probiotic because it's not added, these beneficial bacteria that are present are natively present in [raw] milk.”
Joseph Mercola, DO, an osteopathic physician, stated in his April 24, 2004 article "The Real Reasons Why Raw Milk Is Becoming More Popular," published on his website:
"Raw
milk is a highly health-promoting food... While it is certainly
possible to become sick from drinking contaminated raw milk, it is also
possible to become sick from almost any food source. But it seems that
raw milk has been unfairly singled out as a risk, when only a very
small risk exists...
Raw
milk is an outstanding source of nutrients including beneficial
bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamins and enzymes, and
it is, in my estimation, the finest source of calcium available...
People
who have been allergic to pasteurized milk for many years can typically
tolerate and even thrive on raw milk. Raw milk is truly one of the most
profoundly healthy foods you can consume, and you'll feel the
difference once you start to drink it."
The Weston A. Price Foundation's Campaign for Real Milk explains in the article "What is Real Milk?," available on their website (accessed Sep. 25, 2008):
"Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer...
Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB [tuberculosis], infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But times have changed and modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks and inspection methods make pasteurization absolutely unnecessary for public protection."
Raw-milk-facts.com, a website with information about raw milk, reports in the article "The Health Benefits of Raw Milk," available on the website (accessed Sep. 25, 2008):
"Clean raw milk from pastured cows is a complete and properly balanced food... About 80% of the proteins in milk are caseins - reasonably heat stable but easy to digest. The remaining 20% or so fall into the class of whey proteins, many of which have important physiological effects (bioactivity). Also easy to digest, but very heat sensitive, these include key enzymes (specialized proteins) and enzyme inhibitors, immunoglobulins (antibodies), metal-binding proteins, vitamin binding proteins and several growth factors... Studies have shown significant loss of these important disease fighters when milk is heated to normal processing temperatures...
Lactose, or milk sugar, is the primary carbohydrate in cow's milk. Made from one molecule each of the simple sugars glucose and galactose, it's known as a disaccharide. People with lactose intolerance for one reason or another (age, genetics, etc.), no longer make the enzyme lactase and so can't digest milk sugar. This leads to some unsavory symptoms, which, needless to say, the victims find rather unpleasant at best. Raw milk, unlike pasteurized, has it's milk sugar enzyme, lactase, undamaged, and so, may allow people who traditionally have avoided milk to give it another try."
The Centers for Disease Control stated in the June 13, 2008 article “Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Infections in Children Associated with Raw Milk and Raw Colostrum From Cows,” published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, that:
“On September 18, 2006, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) was notified of two children hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). One of the patients had culture-confirmed Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection, and both patients had consumed raw (unpasteurized) cow milk in the week before illness onset. Four additional cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in children who had consumed raw cow milk or raw cow colostrum produced by the same dairy were identified during the following 3 weeks…
As a result of this and other outbreaks, California enacted legislation (AB 1735), which took effect January 1, 2008, setting a limit of 10 coliforms/mL for raw milk sold to consumers...
Those states that permit the sale and consumption of raw milk report more outbreaks of foodborne disease attributed to raw milk than those states that have stricter regulations. During 1973-1992, raw milk was implicated in 46 reported outbreaks. Nearly 90% of these outbreaks (40 out of 46) occurred in states that allow the sale of raw milk…
Because illnesses associated with raw milk continue to occur, additional efforts are needed to educate consumers and dairy farmers about illnesses associated with raw milk and raw colostrum. To reduce the risk for E. coli O157 and other infections, consumers should not drink raw milk or raw milk products.”
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated in their Mar. 1, 2007 news release titled "FDA and CDC Remind Consumers of the Dangers of Drinking Raw Milk":
"Raw milk potentially contains a wide variety of harmful bacteria - including Salmonella, E. Coli O157:H7, Listeria, Campylobacter, and Brucella - that may cause illness and possibly death.
Consuming raw milk may be harmful to health. From 1998 to May 2005, CDC identified 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness that implicated unpasteurized milk, or cheese made from unpasteurized milk...
Proponents of drinking raw milk often claim that raw milk is more nutritious than pasteurized milk and that raw milk is inherently antimicrobial, thus making pasteurization unnecessary. Research has shown that these claims are myths. There is no meaningful nutritional difference between pasteurized and raw milk, and raw milk does not contain compounds that will kill harmful bacteria."
Ruth Kava, PhD, RD, stated in her Aug. 7, 2006 article "'Healthful' Raw Milk: A Dangerous Myth Is Back," published on the American Council on Science and Health website:
"It's
ironic that a food process instituted back in the 1920s and 30s to
prevent real, milk-borne disease, is now being demonized as a cause of
nutrient depletion (which it is not). Indeed, some raw milk advocates
blame pasteurized milk for everything from infant colic to
osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer (have they been talking to the
anti-aspartame lobby?). None of this is true...
While
raw milk may taste somewhat sweeter than the pasteurized variety, this
hardly makes up for the fact that it is considerably more likely to
carry disease-causing microorganisms. Indeed, as we have noted in the
past, there have been well-documented outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infection in children, an infection that can result in permanent kidney damage, if not death.
We
can only hope that the public health community exerts itself to counter
the spread of the raw milk myth. As John Sheehan, the director of the
Division of Dairy and Egg Safety of the Food and Drug Administration
notes... drinking raw milk is 'like playing Russian roulette with your
health.' What's worse is playing the game with the health of one's
children."
The Washington Dairy Products Commission explained in their article "What Is Milk?," published on their website, (accessed Sep. 25, 2008):
"'Raw milk' is milk that has not been pasteurized. Although some people claim that 'raw' milk possesses positive nutritional and health-promoting attributes, these claims have not been scientifically substantiated. USDA, FDA, Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention] and many other scientific authorities recommend against consumption of 'raw' milk. 'Raw' milk can contain a variety of microorganisms that can be harmful and even fatal to people - including bacteria campylobacter, Escherichia, listeria, salmonella, yersinia and brucella. Pasteurization, however, destroys any harmful microorganisms and renders milk safe for everyone to consume."
