United States raw milk debate

Background

Commercial distribution of packaged raw milk is prohibited in most countries. However, 28 US states allow sales of raw milk, and in other parts of the world, raw milk can often be bought directly from the farmer. In England, about 200 producers sell raw, or "green top" milk direct to consumers, either at the farm or through a delivery service. Raw milk is sometimes distributed through a share program, wherein the consumer owns a share in the dairy animal or the herd, and can be considered to be consuming milk from his own animal. In the United States, Arizona, California, and Washington allow raw milk sales in retail stores with appropriate warning labelling.

Despite warnings by public health officials, some people advocate consumption of raw milk products. Proponents say that beneficial components of milk are destroyed by pasteurization, specifically immunoglobulins and the enzymes lipase and phosphatase, which are inactivated by heat.Fact|date=December 2007 Raw milk contains vitamin B6, but the heat treatment may cause as much as 20% of the vitamin to be lost.Fact|date=December 2007 Pasteurization also kills some of milk's naturally-occurring bacteria, such as "Lactobacillus acidophilus", useful for the culturing of yogurt. Raw milk proponents point out that these "friendly" bacteria aid digestion and boost immunity.Fact|date=December 2007

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 300 people in the United States got sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk in 2001, and nearly 200 became ill from these products in 2002. "Drinking raw milk or eating raw milk products is like playing Russian roulette with your health," says John Sheehan, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Dairy and Egg Safety. "We see a number of cases of food-borne illness every year related to the consumption of raw milk." [ [http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/504_milk.html FDA Document - "Got Milk? Make Sure it's Pasteurized"] ]

In 2006, the California Department of Food and Agriculture temporarily quarantined milk and cream from Organic Pastures, California's largest raw milk producer, after four children where stricken with E. coli O157:H7 bacterial illness. The department determined that the common link in all four cases "was consumption of raw milk or raw colostrum from Organic Pastures in the week prior to symptom onset." [ [http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/exec/pa/pressreleases/PressRelease.asp?PRnum=06-058 E.coli case] ]

Milk collected or stored in unsanitary conditions may harbor a host of disease-causing organisms (pathogens), such as the bacteria "Campylobacter" (Campylobacteriosis), "Escherichia"(), "Listeria" (Listeriosis), "Salmonella" (Salmonellosis), "Yersinia" (Yersinia enterocolitica), and "Brucella" (Brucellosis). Pasteurization consistently removes all of these pathogens, though they can be reintroduced if the product is handled carelessly. Common symptoms of food-borne illness from many of these types of bacteria include diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, headache, vomiting, and exhaustion. Healthy adults typically recover from such food-borne illness within a short period of time, but others may have symptoms that are chronic, severe, or life-threatening.

People with weakened immune systems, such as elderly people, children, and those with certain diseases or conditions, are most at risk for severe infections from pathogens that can contaminate raw milk. In pregnant women, "Listeria monocytogenes"-caused illness can result in miscarriage, fetal death, or illness or death of a newborn infant, and "Escherichia coli" (E.Coli) infection has been linked to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can cause kidney failure and death.

In late 2007, the debate received media attention in California, where limits on the bacterial counts legally allowed in commercial raw milk have come up for legislative review. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/16/BAEBUFL9G.DTL&hw=raw+milk&sn=004&sc=693 "Bid in Assembly to repeal tough new raw milk standard", San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 2008] ] The news agency Reuters named the raw milk debate as first on a list of the top eight health issues of 2008 [http://features.us.reuters.com/wellbeing/news/084EE9CE-AF54-11DC-BE9B-FC980DA5.html "Top Health Issues of 2008," December 20, 2007] ] . In November 2007, United States Congressman Ron Paul introduced a bill (HR 4077) to legalize interstate transportation of raw milk. [ [http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul422.html Free Trade in Unpasteurized Milk by Ron Paul ] ] [ [http://kipesquire.powerblogs.com/posts/1198391397.shtml A Stitch in Haste Another Quick Example of How Ron Paul is Not a Libertarian ] ]

The debate

Arguments of pasteurization supporters

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cite numerous cases of serious or fatal infections caused by raw milk, with E. coli O157:H7 being the most important because it can cause the hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a life-threatening condition. [ [http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/cheesespotlight/cheese_spotlight.htm CDC on fatal infections from raw milk] ] In a CDC report, numerous cases were traced to raw milk from a cow-share program in Cowlitz County, Washington. After five children were hospitalized, a court order was issued to bring the farm into compliance. [ [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5608a3.htm?s_cid=mm5608a3_e CDC Court Order to cow-share program] ]

A review of infections associated with raw milk contends that pasteurized milk is just as nutritious as raw milk, so that there is neither a scientific nor an aesthetic reason for choosing raw milk products. [ [http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/507035 Study on nutrition of pasturized milk vs. raw milk] ]

Arguments of raw milk supporters

Advocates of drinking raw milk name various health benefits they attribute to raw milk that are lost in the pasteurization process, and claim that raw milk can be produced as hygienically as pasteurized milk. [cite web | url = http://realmilk.com/ppt/08rawmilk.ppt |title =Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products: Safety, Health, Economic, and Legal Issues] [cite web | url = http://raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html |title =The Health Benefits of Raw Milk]

Two recent studies in respected scientific journals found a statistically significant inverse relationship between consumption of raw milk and asthma and allergies. [cite web | url = http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0091-6749/PIIS0091674906006518.pdf |title =Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 117(6):1374-81 (June 2006)] [Clinical Experimental Allergy, Volume 37, Issue 5, pages 627-630 (May 2007)]

Cheesemakers hold that cheeses produced from raw milk have distinctive complexity and depth of flavor absent from pasteurized-milk cheeses. [cite web | url = http://www.rawmilkcheese.org/index_files/Page396.htm | title = American Raw Milk Cheese Presidium Mission & Protocol | author = Raw Milk Cheesemakers’ Association] Ultrapasteurized and UHT-treated milk is nearly impossible to use for cheesemaking. [cite web | url = http://www.cheesemaking.com/includes/modules/jWallace/OnLineNews/NewsFiles/MilkAbout.html | title = All About Milk | publisher = New England Cheesemaking Supply Company | author = Jim Wallace]

A [http://www.realmilk.com/documents/SheehanPowerPointResponse.pdf slide by slide rebuttal] to the FDA powerpoint presentation, shows that of 15 outbreaks cited by the FDA, not a single one demonstrates that pasteurization would have fixed the problem, that 93% lacked either a valid statistical correlation with raw milk or a positive sample, and half lacked both. Even with the FDA's numbers, raw milk would not be any more dangerous than deli meats.

References

External links

The public debate

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/dining/08raw.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=raw+milk+california&st=nyt&oref=slogin "Should This Milk Be Legal?", New York Times, August 8, 2007]

* [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/03/23/got_raw_milk/ "Got Raw Milk?", Boston Globe, March 23, 2008]

Warnings about raw milk

* [http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile03.stm British Columbia Ministry of Health: Raw Milk - A Risk to Public Health]
* [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/mi-03-4.html U.S. FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition] : Position statement on sale/consumption of raw milk
* [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000318.htm CDC: Highly increased risk of contracting salmonella dublin infection from raw milk]
* [http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/en/article-details.php?a=1&c=1&sc=1&id=384 University of Guelph Food Safety Network: Summary of raw milk disease outbreaks]
* [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/rawmilk.html Why Raw Milk Should Be Avoided - Stephen Barrett, M.D.]

Promoters of raw milk

* [http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/ raw-milk-facts.com]
* [http://www.rawmilk.org/ rawmilk.org]
* [http://www.realmilk.com/ Campaign for Real Milk] by the Weston A. Price Foundation
* [http://spirityard.com/realmilkforme.html Real Milk For Me!] (Informational & activist links for raw milk enthusiasts)
* [http://www.wpr.org/hereonearth/archive_070622k.cfm Here on Earth: Radio interview with Sally Fallon and Dr. Ron Schmid on the benefits and politics of raw milk]