Raw Milk Anyone?

I prefer to be a government brainwashed sheeple on this one and use pasteurized dairy products. I cook meat before I eat it, so have my milk heated before I drink it hardly seems like some dangerous conspiracy to me.

And this has never been a country where you are free to do whatever you want. Ever. That has never been the definition of what a free society means. Laws and taxes, anyone?

Actually there was a time when the government did NOT regulate food and drugs. And we got along splendidly.

I grew up on a farm drinking raw cow and goat milk. We made our own butter from that milk as well and none of us ever got sick. Fat? Yes...but not sick

I prefer to be a government brainwashed sheeple on this one and use pasteurized dairy products. I cook meat before I eat it, so have my milk heated before I drink it hardly seems like some dangerous conspiracy to me.

And this has never been a country where you are free to do whatever you want. Ever. That has never been the definition of what a free society means. Laws and taxes, anyone?

Actually there was a time when the government did NOT regulate food and drugs. And we got along splendidly.

You are absolutely free to move to another country where food and drugs are not regulated. Somalia really has no rules or regulation at all, and a life expectancy to match. I'll stay here in this un-free American hellhole suffering great injustices like milk that's been heated. It's horrendous, but some how I'll make it through.

You are free to move to a country where they are regulated. As for me, I'll stick to America and the Constitution which does NOT list regulating food and drugs as an enumerated power of the national government.

i have no axe to grind on this but why would you want raw milk over pastuerised milk?


Below is from the FDA

Raw Milk & Pasteurization: Debunking Milk Myths
While pasteurization has helped provide safe, nutrient-rich milk and cheese for over 120 years, some people continue to believe that pasteurization harms milk and that raw milk is a safe healthier alternative.

Here are some common myths and proven facts about milk and pasteurization:

Pasteurizing milk DOES NOT cause lactose intolerance and allergic reactions. Both raw milk and pasteurized milk can cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to milk proteins.
Raw milk DOES NOT kill dangerous pathogens by itself.
Pasteurization DOES NOT reduce milk's nutritional value.
Pasteurization DOES NOT mean that it is safe to leave milk out of the refrigerator for extended time, particularly after it has been opened.
Pasteurization DOES kill harmful bacteria.
Pasteurization DOES save lives.

no offense to the poster but if the FDA is RECOMMENDING it than I will be sure to run far away as I can. Look for conflicts of interest and that will debunk the information above..

From the Center for Disease Control:

Many people who chose raw milk thinking they would improve their health instead found themselves (or their loved ones) sick in a hospital for several weeks fighting for their lives from infections caused by germs in raw milk. For example, a person can develop severe or even life-threatening diseases, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause paralysis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can result in kidney failure and stroke.



There are a lot of fine ways to die. I don't consider drinking milk to be one of them.

this...I have been the nurse for a few. Sad and scary

I'll continue to worry more about unidentifiable chemicals and genetic engineering....both of which the FDA and CDC seem to take no issue with......than any possible side effects of food in it's natural form.

Three words: TRUST YOUR FARMER. My grandparents grew up on raw milk. My father grew up on a farm consuming raw milk. No sickness. As long as it is coming from a cow consuming its natural diet of grass (grain/corn/candy/animal parts are not a natural diet - makes them sick (and factory dairy farms are just gross - germs/bacteria) - hence raw milk started making people sick. I am still looking for it here. I have found low-heat pasteurized from local grass-fed dairy cows. YUM!!! The heavy cream is absolutely AMAZING!! And nothing like having to take a spoon and dig through the solid cream to get to the milk.
I've heard so many, many stories of "lactose intolerant" people that suffer no issues whatsoever from raw milk. But I guess anecdotal evidence means nothing these days. Gotta listen to the government and their posse. Like they actually care about the health of this nation.

I'm going to stick with trusting scientists. They're smarter.

As to the part in bold you are correct. Anecdotal evidence is meaningless and is all that's been provided in this thread regarding the safety of raw milk.

"I drink it and I'm fine!" Sure. I never said it was lethal. But the chances of it turning or carrying pathogens is much, much higher than with pasteurized milk. It's a very real risk. And that is a risk you are taking with no benefit, aside from taste. It is not healthier or more nutritious. If anything it'll have much higher amounts of fat in it. So stop acting like you're doing something great for your body. You're not. All risk and no reward.

You all are free to do whatever you would like, I would never say otherwise. But be informed. Know the risks you're taking. I just finished reading a story of a woman who's son nearly died from E-coli because she thought she was doing the right thing buying raw milk.

And the fear mongering about "chemicals" and "genetically engineered crops" is not my cup of tea. It shows a shocking lack of real knowledge. Because A. everything is a chemical and B. every crop in existence is "genetically modified". They've been doing that since we started growing crops thousands of years ago. Some people are just scared of words they don't understand.

I will say something here. I am not American, I am British. Pregnant women are advised to not eat un-pasturised cheeses due to the damage that it can cause their unborn children through the bacteria. It can cause listeria (for example).

This is a link from the foods standards agency (its British and regulates our food and drinks and so on)
http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/guidancenotes/hygguid/rawmilkcream#.UD_hSdZlQXI
Here is a snippet, which goes into further detail on the site
" =The Scottish ban on sales of raw cows' milk and cream was introduced in 1983 following a number of milk-related illnesses and 12 potentially associated deaths. The introduction of the ban resulted in a marked decline in milk-related illness, which has been maintained in subsequent years."
Yep, in Scotland it is banned due to people DYING from drinking raw milk.

Another thing, what really gets my goat on the topics on here are the amount of rude and arrogant people who claim that they are some how superior because "they have been doing certain things for so many years".
For most people, drinking milk straight from the cow with no treatment to the milk at all, there is a real risk (not a definite of course) of getting ill.
If you wish to do that then it is your own risk and if you get sick then you know the risks.
I would NOT give my child under cooked chicken, raw meat or unwashed vegetables. If I choose to do that to myself then that is a risk i take myself, I would not ever risk my childs health deliberately by doing something that I know could make them sick!
If anyone wishes to do that then that is their business and their concern, I won't tell them "you mustn't do that" on here, that is their decision.
So what if our grandparents did things?? When my Grandmother was a child there were no proper refrigerators. Her parents kept food cool by having a space in the outside wall where a brick had been removed by my great grandfather, the food was put in there. She never had food poisoning as a child, but it doesn't mean that we would do that now.
With every due respect, It is nothing to do with trusting your farmer. It is to do with basic common sense and avoiding taking risks with your health. Very real risks.

"during 1985 and 1986 more than 60 cases of salmonella Ealing were identified around the UK mainly associated with powdered milk products....Outbreaks of yersiniosis and Salmonellosis in England have also been associated with pasteurised milk supplies"
http://jmm.sgmjournals.org/content/29/4/239.full.pdf

The fact is, contamination of foodstuffs causes disease.

But I appreciate the choice. There are stringent controls in the uk as to where raw milk can be supplied for retail. Farmers regularly test their milk, and I personally would trust them more than the mass market. Diseases potentially associated with raw milk can come from anywhere. It's bad practice that leads to them making it to the food chain.

I like the taste of raw milk. It seems lighter. The OP wanted to know a source - not the whys and wherefores of consumption. Let's assume she's already thought it through.

I would drink raw milk, hopefully one day I'll have a cow out back.

the only milk I drink is raw milk. I get mine delivered from a farm coop. I'm not sure where you live, but they deliver in and around nyc.


And to the people saying it only tastes good from the fat, it has the same amount of fat as pasturized homoginized whole milk. It still tastes better to me. Another thing too is I thought I was lactose intolerant but I have no issues on raw milk.

I prefer to be a government brainwashed sheeple on this one and use pasteurized dairy products. I cook meat before I eat it, so have my milk heated before I drink it hardly seems like some dangerous conspiracy to me.

And this has never been a country where you are free to do whatever you want. Ever. That has never been the definition of what a free society means. Laws and taxes, anyone?

Actually there was a time when the government did NOT regulate food and drugs. And we got along splendidly.

You are absolutely free to move to another country where food and drugs are not regulated. Somalia really has no rules or regulation at all, and a life expectancy to match. I'll stay here in this un-free American hellhole suffering great injustices like milk that's been heated. It's horrendous, but some how I'll make it through.

That milk has been heated destroys the nutrients in it, so why drink it or use it? Absurd to me. But, I question everything and look back to the old, simple days when things were done RIGHT.

Pasteurization
Pasteurizing milk destroys beneficial bacteria along with the bad ones and destroys enzymes essential for nutrient absorption. Pasteurizing milk destroys all its phosphatase; this is essential for the absorption of calcium, and calcium works with Vitamin D, not only available through sunshine but is an essential nutrient in raw cream. Nature packaged a superb design for human sustenance in milk as it comes from the cow with all original essential nutrients — so long as it is not pasteurized. Heating any raw food destroys the active enzymes, so lipase (an enzyme unique to milk and needed to complete digestion of fats) is blasted along with many other essential nutrients that pasteurization destroys.


Homogenization
Homogenization is a process that breaks up fat globules in cream into very small particles which then do not separate from the rest of the milk. One of the reasons homogenizing milk became standard processing plant practice is that it allowed cheap Grade C milk (with little cream rising to the top) to be mixed with Grade B and valuable Grade A milk (with lots of cream rising to the top) to all be labeled as Grade A and priced accordingly. There is no known health or nutritional advantage to homogenization and quite a bit of science proving its harm — see The Milk Book, Chapter VII, "Udder Menace" by William Campbell Douglass II, MD. Some research suggests that this fracturing of the lipid (fat) molecule creates a free radical cascade that can cause allergic reactions and, through complex metabolic processes, even heart disease. (Others suggest that it is really the heating of the milk protein in the water fraction of the milk that provides allergic reactions, not homogenization.)

We have it at a couple stores nearby here in CA. It is AWESOME, but expensive. It is too many calories for me most of the time and my husband can't drink it fast enough before it goes bad so we only have it as a treat and get by with Almond Milk for most cooking and such. I love raw cream as well. YUM. Such a treat.

Why would you consider it O.o You aren't a baby cow... =/ If all pasteurization does is kill the bacteria then why go for raw? If we are able to kill off the bad bacteria in the milk then we should do that.

*Serious question....why would you want to drink milk with the bacteria?