"Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out."
-Karl Augustus Menninger
Milk gets a bad rap these days. Critics cite its unhealthy effects on the body, such as increasing acidity levels and depleting the bones of calcium. Raw, unprocessed milk is particularly maligned because of its alleged dangers. Rather than jumping to conclusions, let's examine history.
Milk is a time-honored food that has been held in high regard by many cultures. Herodotus recorded that ancient Ethiopians—according to their king—lived beyond 120 years of age on a diet of milk and cooked meat.[1] The Hebrew scriptures also reveal the widespread use of milk from very early times. In the Old Testament, the Promised Land is praised repeatedly as a "land flowing with milk and honey," likely referring to its fertility. "Milk" appears 48 times in the King James Bible, and there are several references to kine (cows), goats, and sheep—all of which supply regular nourishment via milk—as wealth. For thousands of years, milk has provided comfort and the necessities of life to people across the world. However, as your gut may tell you, what passes for milk today is quite different from what our forefathers enjoyed.[2]
People in past generations consumed foods that were not subject to the adulteration that we contend with. Whereas the milk of the ancients was a living food that nourished the body, today's processed milk is a dead, white liquid that has been altered significantly from its original form, supposedly to increase its safety.
Pasteurization and Profit
Louis Pasteur is hailed as a pioneer of modern medicine and the "father of immunology." He is credited with the introduction of pasteurization, which involves heating a substance in order to kill microbes. Many people are unaware that pasteurization was invented to increase the shelf life—not the safety—of food. In 1856, an alcohol manufacturer hired Pasteur to determine what was causing beetroot alcohol to turn sour. Pasteur conducted experiments to show that spoilage in the dairy, beer, wine, vinegar, and silk industries was attributable to contamination by bacteria, and it was years later that he applied these findings to the origins of disease.[3, 4]
Industry leaders saw tremendous value in Pasteur's accomplishments—and not because of the benefits for consumer health. Rather, increasing a product's shelf life increases profits for manufacturers and distributors, which explains the abundance of preservatives in modern corporate-produced food. Today, almost all of the milk consumed by Americans is pasteurized, as you'll discover by strolling through any U.S. supermarket.
In 1987, the FDA mandated pasteurization for all milk and milk products intended for direct human consumption.[5] This regulation makes raw milk illegal to ship across state lines. The FDA has no power over state laws pertaining to raw milk, but many states impose their own restrictions. As of 2013, 20 states explicitly prohibited sales of raw milk, and 30 states allowed it.[6] Some people ascribe the restrictions on raw milk to the efforts of a scientifically informed and benevolent bunch and consider the bans a hallmark of developed nations. However, several European countries, such as Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands are expanding access to unpasteurized milk via vending machines![7] Why the divergence?
In much of North America and Australia, the Big Dairy industry depends on its mass-pasteurization infrastructure for control of the milk market. Executives know that the increasing popularity of raw milk threatens their business, with consumers turning to local farms. These fears yield ceaseless efforts to persuade government agencies to maintain and enforce raw milk bans.[8] The American Farm Bureau Federation, known for its lobbying powers at the state and federal levels, is one of the major organizations that campaign for mandatory pasteurization. Dale Moore, director of public policy for the organization, expressed support of the 1987 FDA ban, saying, "We're going to stay opposed, not neutral, on this." As a basis for this position, he cited the fact that there have been no changes in the FDA’s stance on raw milk.[6]
Before comparing raw and pasteurized milk, let's consider the U.S. government's track record regarding food safety.
• Sodium nitrite is a preservative added to processed meats. The compound has been known for decades to form nitrosamines, which accelerate the formation and growth of cancer cells throughout the body. In fact, the USDA attempted to ban sodium nitrite in the late 1970s but was thwarted by the meat industry, which claimed that the substance was safe.[9-11] Today, it is commonly added to hot dogs, sausages, bacon, and lunchmeats in the U.S.
• Artificial trans fats (also known as partially hydrogenated oils) were developed in the early 1900s and quickly became popular in margarine, shortening, and frying oils because they were long-lasting and cheaper than animal fats such as butter. In the 1970s and 1980s, although studies suggested that trans fats promoted heart disease, reviews commissioned by the FDA concluded that they were not harmful. In the 1990s, studies clearly established that industrially produced trans fat caused heart disease, and health organizations urged the FDA to enforce the labeling of trans fats. It wasn't until 2006 that the FDA required manufacturers to include trans fats on nutrition labels.[12] In 2015, the FDA released a "final determination" that trans fats are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in foods.[13] How many people needlessly suffered, consuming poisons for decades under the government's watch?
• The U.S. government's susceptibility to corporate interests is perhaps best illustrated by its consistent approval of Monsanto products and the infamous "revolving door" whereby Monsanto executives become key figures in the FDA, EPA, and USDA. One such individual is Michael R. Taylor, the FDA deputy commissioner for foods and former Monsanto vice president for public policy.[14] Monsanto produces genetically engineered crops and pesticides (such as Roundup and Agent Orange) that have toxic effects such as organ damage and insect mutations.[15, 16]
• The FDA approves the use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener despite its known toxicity and adverse effects, which include vision and hearing impairment, memory loss, convulsions, severe depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, and diabetes complications.[17, 18] In 1973, two years after Dr. John Olney informed aspartame manufacturer G.D. Searle (later acquired by Monsanto) that the substance formed holes in the brains of test mice, the company petitioned the FDA for approval to use aspartame in all foods. It was approved in 1974. In 1975, an FDA task force investigated aspartame safety concerns and reported problems throughout the Searle studies that revealed a pattern of conduct that "compromised the scientific integrity of the studies," and the 1974 approval was rescinded. In the 1980s, Searle made campaign contributions to U.S. Senators and Representatives and hired lobbyists to oppose efforts to ban aspartame. The additive was approved and sold under the name "NutraSweet."[19] Today, aspartame is found in common foods such as diet soda, candy, condiments, sweetened yogurt, and even children's chewable vitamins!
We cannot rely on government protection to stop dangerous chemicals from being intentionally added to foods. Nor can we trust in what the government considers "safe," as its recommendations change with political tides. The examples above show that corporations dominate American food and agricultural interests and strongly influence the decisions of agencies like the FDA and USDA. We must ensure our own health and safety by understanding what our food contains and how it is produced.
Raw vs. Processed Milk
Mandatory pasteurization is reasonable under the assumption that pasteurization ensures safety. But this is not the case, as disease outbreaks due to pasteurized products are well-documented.[20-22] For example, in 1985, a salmonella outbreak in Illinois caused by pasteurized milk resulted in 3,000 people being hospitalized, 18 of whom died. Pasteurized milk contains dead bacteria that should not be consumed, because their metabolites are toxins. It is also a good medium for pathogenic bacterial growth: raw milk has a built-in safety system comprising beneficial bacteria, pathogen-killing enzymes, and other compounds that inhibit harmful microbes, all of which are inactivated or destroyed by pasteurization. In 1974, Consumer Reports reported that 44% of 125 pasteurized milk samples violated safety regulations and asserted that pasteurization was an excuse for the sale of dirty milk, promoting carelessness and discouraging efforts (i.e., expenditures) to produce clean milk.[23] The same is true of today's processed milk.
Pasteurization not only kills microbes but also destroys nutrients, such as vitamins A, B6, B12, C, and D; fatty acids; and minerals. The pasteurization of milk destroys natural enzymes that aid digestion, which is why many people have difficulty ingesting dairy products. Before the industrialization of dairy farms, milk was supplied by farmers to local populations that lived near the farm, and there were no epidemics due to contaminated milk. Today, milk is supplied by large, often unsanitary factory farms and shipped great distances, and pasteurization allows producers to become less vigilant in maintaining a clean factory and healthy herd.[24]
Modern factories produce dairy under horrifying conditions. Cows are raised on "drylots" that are devoid of grass, offer no protection from inclement weather, and contain thousands of animals at a time.[25] They are fed antibiotics and genetically modified corn and soy, injected with hormones, and made to live in filth. These conditions are ideal for the spread of disease, and the resulting milk can be contaminated with pesticides, pus, and fecal matter.[26, 27] It's no wonder the CDC pushes pasteurization to kill everything in our milk. This, rather than ensuring that the milk is clean, allows the dairy industry to operate under revolting conditions and maximize its profits.
Physician, Ph.D., and Harvard scientist Ganmaa Davaasambuu examined the link between commercial milk and cancer-causing hormones, particularly estrogen. Concerned about rising dietary estrogen levels, Davaasambuu implicated the milk from modern dairy farms, where cows are pregnant for much of the time they are milked, leading to an abnormally high estrogen content in their milk. She said that the milk we drink today "is quite unlike the milk our ancestors were drinking" and "may not be nature's perfect food."[2] On the other hand, raw, organic milk from grass-fed cows milked at the proper times is linked to improved digestion; healthier skin; protection against asthma and allergic reactions; and boosted immunity, which helps to prevent cancer and other diseases and combats the effects of the harmful chemicals in our air, water, and food.[28-31] This is no surprise considering that raw milk is the nourishment prescribed by God for newborn creatures.
In 2008, there was a legal case between the state of California and farms providing raw, unprocessed milk. The court hearing involved two expert witnesses who testified about raw and pasteurized milk, the difference between them, and food safety protocols and testing procedures. These two individuals—Dr. Theodore Beals and Dr. Ronald Hull—are qualified pathology experts and presented their full credentials as part of their testimony. Here are some enlightening excerpts from the session:[32]
• Question: "Dr. Beals, based on your background, education, training, your experience, do you have an opinion to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty whether milk that is unpasteurized is safe for human consumption?"
Dr. Beals: "My opinion is that it is, and historically it's been shown clearly that it is. Pasteurization was only introduced in about 1900. And the history of human consumption of milk goes back well before recorded history. And as a matter of fact, in recorded history we know that the domestication of animals for the purpose of providing fluid milk for human consumption is present in almost all civilizations across the world. And recorded history and historians have well documented the fact that this consumption of milk was in fact very advantageous to civilization. It was advantageous for cultures that migrated because they were able to take domestic animals with them and have a continuous supply of fluid milk. And it's well recorded also in history that the ability to take domestic animals that provided fresh milk with armies as they moved across the country was a distinct advantage to them.
If a food is unsafe for consumption, it is very quickly eliminated from the diet of cultures. And in fact history shows that the consumption of milk from domestic animals has persisted throughout history, and on the basis of that, I don't believe that there's any argument but that the consumption of fresh milk is in fact safe [and] confers competitive advantage to those that drink it."
• Question: "Dr. Beals, based on your background, training, education, and experience, do you have an opinion to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty whether or not milk must be free of bacteria in order for it to be safe for human consumption?"
Dr. Beals: "As a matter of fact, the studies that I alluded to previously are studies by Grnlund, Perez, and Martin, as examples, that clearly demonstrate that human milk is rich in beneficial bacteria straight fresh from healthy mothers. And there's no evidence that I know of scientifically to conclude that human breast milk is different from all the rest of the mammalian milk on this critical beneficial value."..."The answer to that is that it does not need to be free of bacteria."
• Question: "Which is more likely to have a pathogen in it? Some raw, fresh, unprocessed milk that has good bacteria in it or pasteurized milk where all the bacteria has been killed?"
Dr. Beals: Pasteurized milk where the beneficial bacteria have been killed.
• Question: "What types of milk are there?"
Dr. Hull: "Well, there is raw milk. Raw market milk, I'll describe first, is a living food. And on the other hand we have pasteurized milk, which is a cooked—I would describe it as a dead food. The raw market milk is living just as you and I are living because it contains a number of live components. The first one—the first component is the competitive flora, which are the same microorganisms that live inside of our intestinal tract when we're healthy. It's the same flora that's used to make cheese and yogurt. That competitive flora competes out other pathogens. And we use that in commercial production. We have available to us now strains of lactic acid bacteria for use in specific ferments which will kill all of the pathogens which can exist in that particular product. So that's highly developed science. And not only is it science, but it's in commercial practice."
• Question: "Does raw milk [come] with a built-in immunity system, then?"
Dr. Hull: "Yes, it does."
Question: "And because of that immunity system, can raw milk be subjected to a less, quote, clean environment?"
Dr. Hull: "Yes, definitely. And that's part of the reason I brought this apple here. I can leave this apple sitting around for I don't know how many weeks in California, but certainly at home an apple or orange can sit on the kitchen table or outside for many days and still be fine to eat. Not a health hazard, not a food safety issue. But if we cook that product, then we cannot do that. We have to protect it from contamination, from infection, from the environment because it has no longer living immunity in the apple."
This expert testimony leaves no doubt as to the superiority of raw milk for both health and safety. Pasteurization aside, modern processed milk has many other undesirable attributes. Homogenization involves pushing milk through tiny holes in order to give it a uniform consistency. This is done at very high pressures and generates considerable heat, causing healthy fats in the milk to become rancid and often resulting in a second pasteurization process.[33, 34] To obtain the desired color, milk is bleached with benzoyl peroxide and hydrogen peroxide, which are allowed by the FDA.[35] To increase profits, major dairy companies dilute milk with a cheap watery substance called permeate.[36]
In addition, American dairy farmers inject cows with the FDA-approved recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH; manufactured by none other than Monsanto) to increase their milk production. European nations and Canada have banned rBGH to protect consumers, whereas in the U.S., Monsanto would lose billions of dollars in the case of an rBGH ban and has influenced product safety laws to permit the sale of unlabeled rBGH milk. Almost all American milk is genetically modified unless the label indicates otherwise.[37] The bovine growth hormone increases levels of a powerful growth hormone called IGF-I, which is a key factor in the growth and proliferation of cancer. Dairymen reported that the hormone caused their cows to develop mastitis, requiring enormous doses of antibiotics. Initially, 95% of dairy farmers initially refused to inject their cows with rBGH for this reason, but many later caved under pressure.[38] For details about the web of deception leading to the approval of rBGH (involving Monsanto, the FDA, and U.S. Congress members), check out the book Milk - The Deadly Poison by Robert Cohen.
Fat-Free vs. Whole
Besides the threat of pathogens, Big Dairy has perpetuated another myth to bolster its profits: that milk is full of fat, and whole milk is not good for us. The dairy industry, delighted to sell the same amount of raw material twice, has convinced many that skim milk is a healthier option.[39] In reality, the natural butterfat in raw, unprocessed milk is a great source of vitamins, calcium, and antioxidants and has cancer-fighting properties.[40]
Takeaway
Healthy cows and proper sanitation—not pasteurization—are effective for keeping milk clean. Udders should be washed and sterilized before and after milking, and milk should be properly filtered and immediately refrigerated.
The raw-milk issue is about not only health but also consumer freedom. Several other contaminated products, such as spinach and cantaloupe, have caused disease breakouts and deaths in the U.S., leading the FDA to issue warnings to consumers.[41-43] Americans nonetheless remain free to purchase and sell these products. In contrast, when it comes to raw milk, lobbying efforts have given rise to restrictions that are unwarranted and oddly authoritative for a nation founded on principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Although food-borne illness are a valid concern, the risk of raw milk should be considered objectively and in perspective. Beware of the scare tactics used by the by the FDA and CDC to justify the mandatory neutralization of a living, healthy food. Despite CDC warnings that raw milk-related illnesses are on the rise, the risk is grossly overstated. According to the aforementioned Dr. Beals, we are 35,000 times more likely to get sick from other foods than from raw milk.[31] The CDC reports an estimated 48 million food-borne illnesses among Americans each year.[44] From 2007 to 2012, there were 979 confirmed illnesses linked to raw milk—about 163 per year on average, which is a minuscule figure compared with the total amount of cases.[45] CDC data show that 3,000 Americans die each year of food-borne diseases, and in the entire period of 1998 to 2011, there were only 2 deaths due to raw milk.[44, 46]
I've been drinking raw milk for years with no issues. These days, I buy delicious raw, whole milk from a local farm in Belton, TX and drink it regularly. If you can find a certified or trusted provider in your area, I recommend you give it a try! With pasteurized products, know that there may be more than meets the eye. If you decide against drinking raw milk, at least be aware of the powerful players in the dairy business, their motivations, and their actions.
To learn more about who's fighting for your right to buy and consume raw milk in the U.S., check out the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, National Farmers Union, and Weston A. Price Campaign for Real Milk.
Sources
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[31] http://draxe.com/raw-milk-benefits/
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[34] http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/homogenization_T3.html
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[39] http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/nov/23/raw-milk-revolution
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[41] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/03/08/switching-to-raw-milk.aspx
[42] http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm271899.htm
[43] http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2006/ucm108731.htm
[44] http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html
[45] http://www.cdc.gov/features/rawmilk/
[46] http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html