Those of you who regularly read my work know that I believe in conventional milk. It is perfectly safe, perfectly nutritious, and perfectly refreshing. So what is with this push from some groups to make raw milk sales in supermarkets legal? For those of you who don’t know what raw milk is, let me enlighten you. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized. That’s right! Straight from the udder to you! Groups like the Weston A. Price Foundation and the folks behind Joe Mercola are all for this version of milk and regularly push for its mainstream acceptance. Their arguments are that raw milk is more nutritious, of a higher quality and has a better taste than its conventional counterpart because it has not been exposed to the extreme heat that pasteurization brings. Here is my question: Do they not realize that without pasteurization the safety of consuming that milk is seriously questionable? That cow lives on a farm, not in a sterile facility! Where has that udder been; what has it touched; what kinds of bacteria has that milk been exposed to that are not removed because it’s not been pasteurized? It’s one thing to drink the freshly drawn, raw milk on the farm, as my father did when he was growing up on my grandfather’s Michigan dairy farm. But it’s another thing entirely to drink raw milk after it’s spent several days being transported, bottled, and shipped to the store. By then the once-few nasty bacteria will have proliferated into hundreds of thousands or millions, ready to make ill the unsuspecting consumer.

The activists claim “raw” milk kills bacteria, but that’s just plain false. Why do they think so many consumers, especially children, get sick after drinking raw milk? (Actually, they always come up with another scape-goat in those cases: “it was beef or lettuce, not raw milk” they say) There is a reason that the FDA has not allowed the mainstream sale of raw milk: It has repeatedly been proven to sicken consumers and there is zero evidence it is healthier or more nutritious. In fact, recently three Georgia families who consumed raw milk- milk that was only approved for sale as pet food- fell seriously ill with food-borne illnesses as a result. Sadly, many parents seek out raw milk to give to their children – who are most at risk and least aware of the danger. We need to protect the health of children by barring the sale of raw milk. For now, I’ll stick to my clean, “tasteless,” pasteurized milk. At least I know I won’t end up with food-borne illnesses.