11 replies to this topic

[sanidadexterior]

Raw milk is a food that is highly susceptible to microbial growth, especially from the animal and from the environment.

Pasteurization was discovered in the 19th century, a gentle heating of milk that eliminates most microorganisms present in milk.

Some people reject pasteurized milk and prefer to consume raw milk.

Raw milk cannot be sold for health reasons in several countries: Canada, Malaysia, and several states in the USA.

In others, it can be sold subject to certain requirements:  EU , Japan and USA ( interstate ).

In Europe, raw milk consumption is not widespread, and health problems are related to products made with raw milk (cheeses, etc.).

In the USA, 202 outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with raw milk consumption have been identified between 1998 and 2018. Raw milk is said to have certain properties that it loses with pasteurization: loss of nutrients, lactose intolerance, and immune problems.

There are some companies marketing raw milk and its products that have been involved in several product recalls and foodborne outbreaks.

 

¿ Is raw milk a safe food ?

 

 

 

is raw milk a safe food to the consumer ? | PDF | Food Industry

[Setanta]

Not in my opinion.

[Scampi]

Nope, not for the general population

 

sure, an old boy farmer who's done it forever will tell you differently, and perhaps his system can handle it, but the general population? absolutely not

 

People have forgotten the history of folks like Louis Pasteur to whom the rest of us owe a great deal

 

https://www.britanni...y/Louis-Pasteur

[AZuzack]

Raw Milk poses the same risks of Shigella Toxin producing E.Coli (and other bacterial) contamination as eating undercooked ground or injected beef products.  There's all kinds of ways to control the likelihood of contamination but it is difficult to fully eliminate.  The producers could put the milk on a testing hold, but even the fastest E. Coli test (that I know of) is 6 hours.  Unlike beef products where cooking will likely kill off or at the very least reduce the bacteria leaving only the toxin, the raw milk will contain the bacteria which will continue to produce toxin once ingested.  

[G M]

Some of those dystopian projections for the future are coming true.  People are losing appreciation for the things keeping them alive, and forget why they were being done in the first place, only to end up deciding to stop doing them and re-learn the lesson of their importance the hard way.

[GMO]

Nope.  I never would.

 

I have eaten raw milk hard cheeses but only because I have seen some of the test results.  Not mould ripened though.  And raw milk itself?  Absolutely f-king not.  I've seen too many dairies, too many results from testing...  The people who are the "it never hurt me or my grandma" brigade seem to conveniently forget the people it did hurt aren't here to say otherwise.

 

It's not even as if 71.7oC for 15 seconds (or often nowadays 72.5oC for 25 secs) is a long time.  It's tiny in heat treatment terms.  It has barely any impact on the milk.  It's still not sterile but the worst of the nasties have gone.

[SQFconsultant]

When I drank milk I consumed raw milk from farms in PA, MASS, MO and Florida - never once had an issue as I knew the sources.

 

The milk industry hates raw milk and for years they have used their FDA and USDA henchmen to go after raw milk producers.

 

Frankly, the milk that a cow produces is for their babies, but the dairy industry has this disgusting process of making the them have babies so they produce milk and then taking their babies away  - when the milk production goes down they make them have another baby - very vicious cycle.

 

If more people would witness the babies being taken away and the moma's crying, screaming and calling them lots more people would stop drinking milk whether raw or heated up.

 

I take Coconut and Nut (not almond) cream and milk in my coffee and eat vegan cheese now and then.

[GMO]

 

If more people would witness the babies being taken away and the moma's crying, screaming and calling them lots more people would stop drinking milk whether raw or heated up.

 

 

Dear god man.  We're food scientists.  Babies?

 

The milk industry hates raw milk because it's dangerous.  In the last couple of years, just in the US there have been risks associated with or actual cases of Salmonella, E Coli, Listeria and bird flu all associated with raw milk.

 

The "it never hurt me" crowd will always come out.  But do you not think that's the definition of survivor's bias?

[AZuzack]

And again for the "It didn't make me sick" crowd.  STEC is the is current reason RAW products from farm animals should be avoided.  Yes, all the bacteria can cause life threatening illness, but they don't all shut down your kidneys.  And it's relatively new.  Therefore, it would not have made you sick more than 40 years ago.  

 

STEC emerged in the early 80's/late 70's.  It took about 15years after discovery to make it to mainstream news: 

 

Cases in the early 90's:

https://www.washingt...4-fc507dfe2525/

 

E.Coli O157 detected 1982:  https://www.thelance...Shenzhen, China.

 

1977 discovery of the toxin being produced by E. Coli strains, (see attached screen shot of the actual article).  

Attached Files

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[kfromNE]

Risk vs reward. How most things are decided. Taking on the risk of selling raw milk and potentially getting sued for making someone sick. I wouldn't ever take on the risk. 

 

Now if you were feeding your family unpasteurized milk because you owned dairy cows (know the cleanliness of your operation, etc.) and the money your are saving is going to other expenses to make a better life for your family- more justified. I say all this because this was my situation as a child. My father did have to raise this question. It was not something he took lightly. I was fed unpasteurized milk from the family dairy farm.  As a child, I spent some of my Saturdays cleaning manure off the milk stalls. It's where I also learned about colostrum and what a USDA inspector was (USDA covers dairy farms, once off a farm - becomes a FDA item). Also the hard ache when a cow's milk that was on antibiotic accidently made it into the milk tank. So all the milk had to be tossed/thrown away. This could be a few days or a whole week depending on when the milk company stopped by. 

 

Currently the federal government says the risk is too great (based up science) so it bans unpasteurized milk across state lines, etc. I agree. Most of the people buying the unpasteurized milk don't know enough about the farm operation they are buying from or the potential illness associated with raw milk. 

 

My father got out of dairy business years ago. If he were still in it, would I trust the milk at the farm, probably. But from others -  no. I drank raw milk in the 80s/90s. Science has since advanced and more is known. I don't he would have fed it to us with the knowledge that is known now.

 

The immunity claim - farm kids or those with pets have shown better immunity because they were introduced to dander, etc. as a child. You don't need raw milk. You need nature. Plus it doesn't work for everyone - I also know this. 

[AZuzack]

Recall of Raw Milk in Ireland:

https://www.foodsafe...aw-milk-recall/

[sanidadexterior]

And I thought these things only happened in California.