Is Raw Milk Better Than Pasteurized Milk?

Proponents of raw milk (that is, milk that isn't pasteurized or homogenized) say it's healthier and tastes better, but the U.S. government still classifies raw milk as potentially hazardous. Learn both sides of the issue in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,
loring voc obam here. Interest in raw milk by US
consumers is steadily growing as more people demand less processed
food and seek diet based ways to treat and prevent
health problems. More farmers are offering raw milk, and states
are creating policies that allow sales of raw milk and

(00:24):
raw milk products. Yet, raw milk, which is milk that
has not been pasteurized or homogenized, but rather reaches the
consumer with little processing, is one of the most controversial
farm products. Fans and advocates say it's better for you,
tastes better and safer now than ever before, But in
the US government, health disease and nutrition experts repeat strong

(00:47):
warnings about drinking raw milk. So is raw milk good
or bad for you? Most of the milk and milk
products like ice cream, yogurt, and cheese that's sold in
the United States is pasteurized. Pasteurization kills bacteria present in
raw milk by heating it to a specific temperature for
a prescribed period. This process developed in eighteen sixty four

(01:09):
by Louis Pasteur to help with the shelf life of
wine helps reduce the threat of many food born illnesses,
such as suberculosis, diphtheria, and typhoid fever. Some of the
harmful bacteria that can be present in milk include equali, listeria,
and salmonella, all of which can lead to illness, hospitalization,
and even death. Public health officials consider pasteurization one of

(01:31):
the most significant developments when it comes to preventing these
types of diseases and deaths. Pasteurization isn't selective, though, it
kills good bacteria along with the bad. That's one of
the main arguments in support of raw milk. The US
Food and Drug Administration, the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and public health officials maintain that most of

(01:52):
the nutrition in milk remains intact after pasteurization, and that
the benefits of pasteurizing milk outweigh any losses. Are Raw
milk advocates, however, disagree and say that modern pasteurization destroys
valuable health benefits and alters the texture and flavor of
milk for the worse. We spoke of Sally Fallon, the
founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, the largest

(02:15):
US organization in support of raw milk. She notes that
pasteurization was introduced to make milk safe in the late
nineteenth century, when dairy production became more urban, safe practices
were inconsistent and most people didn't have refrigerators. Today's sanitation practices,
such as refrigerated tanks and trucks, make milk safer than
it was then. Fallon said that raw milk contains factors

(02:38):
that help our immune systems, and that the calcium in
raw milk is more easily absorbed by our bodies than
the calcium in pasteurized milk, making it better for children
and older adults. Some research does seem to back her up,
showing that pasteurization alters proteins so that human bodies can't
digest them as easily, and a twenty sixteen study published
in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that

(03:00):
of the one thousand, one thirty four children who participated,
those who drank raw milk were less likely to develop asthma,
with the benefits due to greater concentrations of Omega three
fatty acids in raw milk. The same study determined that
the children who had raw house milk early in life
also experienced fewer respiratory infections and fevers. Many proponents of

(03:21):
raw milk also say that homogenization ruins the texture of milk,
homogenization being a process that's separate from pasteurization, which makes
milk fat molecules smaller in order to emulsify the milk
so that the cream no longer rises to the top.
This allows for a more stable regular product and for
easier production of milk products with different fat contents. In

(03:43):
the United States, each individual state regulates raw milk policies. However,
on a federal level, the FTA bans the sale of
raw milk across state lines. As of April, selling raw
milk in stores was legal in thirteen states, seventeen states
permitted raw milk sale only on farms, and in twenty
states all sales of raw milk were illegal. Raw milk

(04:06):
advocates like Fallon say that selling unpasteurized milk products is
a great way for small, independent farmers to thrive in
a time when dairy farms go out of business daily. Fallon,
a dairy farmer herself, says it's the dairy industry that
is lobbied to maintain policies restricting interstate raw milk sales.
Fallon said, if the farmers have a choice, they don't

(04:27):
have to sell to dairy processing companies for a dollar
thirty a gallon. If the price of milk reflected pay
raises since the nineteen hundreds, it would cost twenty dollars
a gallon. Allowing dairy farms to sell raw milk anywhere
from five to twenty dollars a gallon helps offset their costs,
and even at those high prices, Fallon says demand would
still be so great that raw milk and raw milk

(04:49):
products would remain among the fastest growing agricultural products in
the United States. But back to the risks of consuming
raw milk of food safety laws in the United States
exist for a reason. Food poisoning is serious and could
lead to hospitalization, disability, and even death. A children, people
with weakened immune systems, the elderly, and pregnant women are

(05:09):
at increased risk from ingesting unpasteurized milk or milk products.
The CDC declared in twenty fifteen that no raw milk
was safe to drink after finding a relatively small number
of outbreaks. A total of eighty one outbreaks reported in
twenty six states between two thousand seven and twelve. These
outbreaks resulted in nine seventy nine illnesses and seventy three hospitalizations,

(05:31):
but no deaths. The cdc S report also stated that
outbreaks increased as more states allowed sales of raw milk,
but advocates disagree, pointing to a newer eighteen study published
in the journal plos. It analyzed food born outbreaks from
unpasteurized milk from two thousand five to six and determined
outbreaks caused by raw milk had decreased during that time

(05:54):
by sevent If raw dairy products concern you, or if
you have a compromise commune system, check for the word
pasteurized on packages and containers before you buy, read product
information and used by or sell by dates carefully, and
consult your retailer. If you have any doubts about an
item that isn't clearly labeled, ask questions. If you're buying

(06:14):
milk or dairy from a farmer's market or co op.
Felon recommends visiting a dairy yourself to get to know
the producers and check out the cleanliness and the animal health.
Though usually the cow itself isn't the problem, it's the
contaminants around the cow that make raw milk dangerous. Harmful
bacteria from a cow's betting, soil, manure, feed, or the
milking equipment the cow teats and utters can become infected

(06:36):
with bacteria from these other items, so attention to sanitation practices,
temperature control, and animal health are key to a good product.
By the way, the used by and sell by dates
on milk and on products in the United States in
general were lobbied for it by al Capone after the
toppling of his prohibition Booze Empire. Day's episode was written

(07:00):
by Sean Chavis and produced by Tyler clang. A Brainstuff
is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works.
For more on this and lots of other health topics,
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