Raw Milk, Part 5

In 2010, I did a four part series for this blog titled “Raw Milk, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. I shared my ambivalence about the topic. I am a lover of raw milk - Part 2 - but I also understand the dangers. Indeed, I have experienced food poisoning from it as I described in Part 3 of that series. I have continued to support raw milk sales from a libertarian standpoint - get the government out of our lives. But recent events may have the pendulum of my emotions and intellect swinging the opposite direction again. A dairy farm that I am familiar with - The Family Cow Farm - just experienced a Campylobacter outbreak which has sickened dozens of people who drink their raw milk. See the following articles - Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4. This is a good farm. They do things right. They are licensed by Pennsylvania to sell raw milk. They practice good sanitation and they regularly test their milk for contamination. But it happened. There was a flaw in their system and people got sick. Some were hospitalized. Fortunately no one died. This is no anti-raw milk conspiracy.

In my job, I frequently visit dairy farms. When I am offered a glass of cold raw milk, I relish it as wine lovers relish fine wine or chocolatiers savor fine dark chocolate. But I know the risks are real and I have experienced coming up on the losing end. Drinking pasteurized milk, which my family nearly always does, is absolutely safer. The person who argues otherwise is uninformed. Yes the pendulum has swung the opposite direction. I discourage people from drinking raw milk. But if you do, make sure you get it from a reputable farm. Please don’t give to the very young, the old, or to those with compromised immune systems. Do not store raw milk for any length of time as bacteria will multiply. And if you do drink it, please savor it like I do.