Thinking of Drinking Unpasteurized Milk?

The popularity of organic food has probably tempted people to think that unpasteurized milk would be an ‘improvement’ over the usual kind. Certainly there has been an increase recently in the number of outbreaks of disease linked to consumption of unpasteurized milk. A review of the situation is published in Clinical Infectious Disease; here are some of the main points.

Milk and other dairy products are fundamental to a healthy diet. However, if consumed unpasteurized, they can be a health hazard if they contain pathogenic bacteria (these are bacteria capable of causing disease). An average of 5.2 disease outbreaks a year linked to raw milk have occurred over the last 13 years, which is more than double the rate in the previous 19 years.

Raw milk can be contaminated before collection (i.e. a carrier cow), at the time of collection, processing, distribution, or storage. It’s true that cows are healthier than they used to be, and there are fewer carriers of pathogenic bacteria. Improved hygiene has also helped eliminate contamination from bacteria in the cow-shed environment – usually salmonella, campylobacter, and E. coli bacteria.

Pasteurization is highly effective in eliminating bacteria from milk. And the process itself does not change the nutritional value of milk. Raw milk advocates claim that raw milk can cure or prevent disease, but there is no scientific evidence to support this. To my mind, there’s little reason to acquire or drink raw milk – our knowledge of milk-transmitted diseases should ensure that pasteurization is practiced universally.