04-30-2011, 07:08 PM
Very few people drink raw milk these days, so comparisons to ubiquitous automobiles and alcohol don't mean much. For epidemics, we'd have to go back to records before the age of widespread pasteurization.
Just to grab a wikipedia factoid:
According to a 2009 review, milkbourne disease outbreaks made up approximately 25% of all food and water contamination disease outbreaks in 1938; pasturization is largely credited for a dramatic decrease in milkbourne disease outbreaks, which made up less than 1% of food and water contamination disease outbreaks by 2005.(1)
(1)^ a b c Lejeune JT, Rajala-Schultz PJ (January 2009). "Food safety: unpasteurized milk: a continued public health threat". Clin. Infect. Dis. 48 (1): 93–100. doi:10.1086/595007. PMID 19053805.
It seems to me there's significant risk. The safety of your raw milk depends upon the practices of the farmer. Whether that risk needs to be removed from the food supply entirely, or be left up to a properly informed consumer is a wider question. Personally, I've seen modern milking operations first hand, and I am content with pasteurization.
(Homogenization is another aspect of milk processing, and I don't see any problem with selling unhomogenized milk, if milkfat is your thing.)
Just to grab a wikipedia factoid:
According to a 2009 review, milkbourne disease outbreaks made up approximately 25% of all food and water contamination disease outbreaks in 1938; pasturization is largely credited for a dramatic decrease in milkbourne disease outbreaks, which made up less than 1% of food and water contamination disease outbreaks by 2005.(1)
(1)^ a b c Lejeune JT, Rajala-Schultz PJ (January 2009). "Food safety: unpasteurized milk: a continued public health threat". Clin. Infect. Dis. 48 (1): 93–100. doi:10.1086/595007. PMID 19053805.
It seems to me there's significant risk. The safety of your raw milk depends upon the practices of the farmer. Whether that risk needs to be removed from the food supply entirely, or be left up to a properly informed consumer is a wider question. Personally, I've seen modern milking operations first hand, and I am content with pasteurization.
(Homogenization is another aspect of milk processing, and I don't see any problem with selling unhomogenized milk, if milkfat is your thing.)