Raw milk

Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized.

History

Humans consumed raw milk exclusively prior to the industrial revolution and the discovery of the pasteurization process in 1864. During the industrial revolution large populations congregated into urban areas detached from the agricultural lifestyle. Up until that point, individuals and families owned their own goats, cows, and other livestock and milked them on a daily basis.

Pasteurization was first used in the United States in the 1890s after the discovery of germ theory to control the hazards of highly contagious bacterial diseases including bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis that was thought to be easily transmitted to humans through the drinking of raw milk. Initially after the scientific discovery of bacteria, no product testing was available to determine if a farmer's milk was safe or infected, so all milk was treated as potentially contagious. After the first test was developed, some farmers actively worked to prevent their infected animals from being killed and removed from food production, or would falsify the test results so that their animals would appear to be free of infection.

When it was first used, pasteurization was thought to make raw milk from any source safer to consume. More recently, farm sanitation has greatly improved and effective testing has been developed for bovine tuberculosis and other diseases, making other approaches to ensuring safety of milk more feasible; however pasteurization continues to be widely used to prevent infected milk from entering the food supply.

Recent advances in the analysis of milk-borne diseases have enabled scientists to track the DNA of the infectious bacteria to the cows on the farms that supplied the raw milk . This technique eliminates much of the debate of the merits of safe milk practices.

Raw vs. pasteurized debate

Main article: United States raw milk debate

The raw vs. pasteurized debate pits the alleged health benefits of consuming raw milk against the disease threat of unpasteurized milk. Although agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other worldwide regulatory agencies say that pathogens from raw milk make it unsafe to consume, some organizations say that raw milk can be produced hygienically, and that it has health benefits that are destroyed in the pasteurization process. This latter statement is not supported by all research.

Legal status

Worldwide

Regulation of the commercial distribution of packaged raw milk varies across the world. Some countries have complete bans, but many had partial bans that do not restrict the purchase of raw milk bought directly from the farmer. Raw milk is sometimes distributed through a cow share program, wherein the consumer owns a share in the dairy animal or the herd, and can be considered to be consuming milk from their own animal. Raw milk is sometimes marketed for animal or pet consumption, or for other uses such as soap making in places where sales for human consumption are prohibited.

In Africa

Although milk consumption in Africa is fairly low compared to the rest of the world, in tribes where milk consumption is popular, such as the Maasai tribe, milk is typically consumed unpasteurized.

In Europe

File:GreenTopMilk.jpg

A bottle of green-top milk

Milk is typically consumed unpasteurized in rural areas of Europe, and raw milk can typically be found in small amounts at stores in large cities. Raw milk cheese is legally produced in most European countries.

Great Britain

Distribution of raw milk is illegal in Scotland. While it is legal in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the only registered producers are in England. About 200 producers sell raw, or "green top" milk direct to consumers, either at the farm, at a Farmers' market, or through a delivery service. The bottle must display the warning "this product has not been heat-treated and may contain organisms harmful to health", and the dairy must conform to higher hygiene standards than dairies producing only pasteurised milk.

It is however, still illegal under the Food Safety Act for Unpasteurised milk to be sold on the High Street, via shops or supermarkets in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

In Asia

In rural areas of Asia where milk consumption is popular, milk is typically unpasteurized. In large cities of Asia, raw milk, especially from water buffalo, is typical. In most countries of Asia, laws prohibiting raw milk are nonexistent or rarely enforced. However while milk is sold raw in these areas household milk is usually consumed after boiling, which makes it safe for daily consumption.

In Australia

The sale of raw milk for drinking purposes is illegal in all states and territories in Australia, as is all raw cheese. This has been circumvented somewhat by selling raw milk as bath milk. An exception to the cheese rule has been made recently for two Roquefort cheeses. There is some indication of share owning cows, allowing the "owners" to consume the raw milk, but also evidence that the government is trying to close this loophole.

In Canada

The sale of raw milk directly to consumers is prohibited in Canada under the Food and Drug Regulations since 1991.

Section B.08.002.2 (1)

“

no person shall sell the normal lacteal secretion obtained from the mammary gland of the cow, genus Bos, or of any other animal, or sell a dairy product made with any such secretion, unless the secretion or dairy product has been pasteurized by being held at a temperature and for a period that ensure the reduction of the alkaline phosphatase activity so as to meet the tolerances specified in official method MFO-3, Determination of Phosphatase Activity in Dairy Products, dated November 30, 1981.

”

Provincial laws also forbid the sale and distribution of raw milk. For instance, Ontario's Health Protection and Promotion Act, subsection 18(1) reads: "No person shall sell, offer for sale, deliver or distribute milk or cream that has not been pasteurized or sterilized in a plant that is licensed under the Milk Act or in a plant outside Ontario that meets the standards for plants licensed under the Milk Act."

In January, 2010, a dairy farmer named Michael Schmidt was found not guilty on 19 charges relating to the sale of raw milk by Justice of the Peace Paul Kowarsky of the Ontario Court of Justice. Schmidt argued that he was not actually selling raw milk but rather making it available to its true owners, called "cowshare owners" who had purchased a share in the dairy herd and therefore owned the milk. As of July, 2010, that case is under appeal. Schmidt is receiving pro bono legal services from the Canadian Constitution Foundation to defend the appeal. The appeal will also raise the question of whether the ban on raw milk violates any constitutional rights of Canadians.

Meanwhile, Canada does permit the sale of raw milk cheeses that are aged over 60 days. In 2009, the province of Quebec modified regulations to allow raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days provided stringent safeguards are met.

In the United States

Main article: United States raw milk debate

Twenty-eight U.S. states do not prohibit sales of raw milk. Cow shares can be found, and raw milk purchased for animal consumption in many states where retail for human consumption is prohibited.

Most states impose restrictions on raw milk suppliers due to concerns about safety. As of 2009, the state of Connecticut has discussed creating possible restrictions upon the sale of raw milk to farms and farmer's markets. The FDA reports that, in 2002, consuming partially heated raw milk and raw milk products caused 200 Americans to become ill in some manner.

Many governmental officials hold to the need for pasteurization. Before pasteurization, many dairies, especially in cities, fed their cattle on low-quality food, and their milk was rife with dangerous bacteria. Pasteurizing it was the only way to make it safely drinkable. As pasteurization has been standard for many years, it is now widely assumed that raw milk is dangerous.

Proponents of raw milk (in the U.S.) advance two basic arguments for unpasteurized milk. They claim that pasteurization destroys or damages some of the milk's nutrients, and that while pasteurization may kill dangerous bacteria, it also kills off "good" bacteria that raw milk supporters claim to have health benefits. The United States Food and Drug administration claims that this is false, and that pasteurizing milk does not destroy any of its nutritive value.

See also

• Milk
• Raw foodism

External links

• Summary of Raw Milk Statutes and Administrative Codes
• New York Times: Should This Milk Be Legal?
• CDC: Health Risks are Still Black and White
• Risk of Consumption of Raw Milk Florida Department of Healthde:Rohmilch

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