Milk's Raw Deal

Although we work every day on the dairy farm to produce safe milk by following proven production practices and caring for our animals to keep them healthy, the fact is that pasteurization of milk is scientifically proven to be the key to providing a safe product for consumers. Pasteurization doesn't change the nutritional value of milk but it does kill harmful bacteria. Ignoring the benefits of pasteurization  can definitely lead to a raw deal when it comes to your health.

In today's world, whether it makes sense or not to me, there are folks who believe it is their liberty to ignore the rules of food safety and partake of raw milk without any guidelines provided by government regulations that provide for safe food. I've never thought about food safety as being a liberty issue and I just can't get my mind wrapped around this approach.

There are an increasing number of states that have legalized the retail  sale of raw milk directly to consumers without pasteurization. Each state differs in the rules or regulations but no matter how the rules are written, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) note that :

• states that allow the legal sale of raw milk for human consumption have an increased number of raw milk-related outbreaks of illness than states that do not allow raw milk sales.
• Bacteria in raw milk is especially dangerous to people with weakened immune systems,older adults,pregnant women and children. In fact, 80% of raw milk illness occurs in children and teenagers.

You can find more information about milk's raw deal at Real Raw Milk Facts or MidwestDairy.

I don't eat raw chicken or  raw beef so...why would I  drink raw milk? For me,it's a food safety issue.