Does Raw Milk Get You Sick?
Why is a filled raw milk bottle sighting so unusual? How could this living blessing that has been delighting people for generations mostly depart from our nation? This contaminated milk unfortunately ruined the reputation of a prized traditional food that is a superior source of nutrition and critically important enzymes. This tainted dairy beverage and its ill effects, led to the stringent pasteurization laws which affect most of the milk in the USA today. Basically, a cherished traditional dairy food was pretty much poisoned by the complete absence of any kind of ethics and regulatory oversight of the mismanaging farmers. Unscrupulous farmers more concerned with money than the health of the cows, created a true health crisis. Thousands of deaths resulted from people and especially children drinking this poisoned raw milk coming from terribly diseased cows and tainted milk. Grains were needed to make whiskey. The by-product from fermenting the grain to make the alcohol, is this soft, pulpy mass of used grain in which most nutrition from the grain has been removed. What is left is spent grain called distillery slop. Unscrupulous farmers found it to be much cheaper and more convenient to feed cows this distillery slop. Indeed feeding the cows with this slop was cheaper and the output of milk from the cows was much higher. It was a good business to be in. This swill (partly liquid food) was given to the cows in the form of thin gruel. The swill was often smoking hot and it at once deranged the poor cow's digestion; its continued use resulted in unhealthy cows producing unhealthy milk followed by the speedy death of the animal. Unsanitary Milk Destroys Lives This milk that was not fit for consumption was a frightening beverage. The milk was of such poor quality and the butterfat so low, that cheeses and butter could not be made from this blue colored adulterated "brew." Sometimes the milk was diluted with dirty water, other times thickeners like flour, chalk or starch were added to it. Salt was sometimes added and so was molasses to sweeten it. Reports also came in of other unfathomable "ingredients" being put into the milk - all unbeknownst to the unsuspecting consumer. Some of these "ingredients" by themselves might not sound noxious, however when combined along with the already sickly milk, they were not much better than poisons when taken in to the sensitive stomach of a young infant. People were reportedly getting tuberculosis, scarlet fever, typhoid, cholera, diphtheria, undulant fever and infant diarrhea from consuming this disastrous milk. The infant mortality rates were horrific, reaching up to 50% in 1839 in New York City. Yes, this outstanding healthy natural whole food had sadly been destroyed and turned into a frightening liquid reeking havoc on those who drank it. So much for the fact that cows are ruminating animals that are meant to eat grass and herbs. So much for animal husbandry. The management and oversight of these cows were horrendous. Many farmers did not care if the quality of the milk decreased because of the inappropriate diet fed to the cows. The breweries were thrilled to have farmers bidding for this slop that was waste from the distillation process. Many of the brewery owners even decided to get into the dairy business since their refuse was now being used as a source of cow food. The health agencies had a big issue on their hands. There was the loss of thousands of lives from drinking this tainted milk. Also, those milking the cows were often sick and they passed their diseases right into the milk. The environments the cows were in were wretched. Good sanitation principles were not followed nor was there proper handling of the milk. The ethical country farmers feeding their cows grass continued to provide health promoting raw milk. However, the illicit swill milk farmers were completely ruining the reputation of good living milk and all ethical farmers. No milk, it seemed, could be deemed to be safe. Who was honest about the quality of their milk? Who was diluting it? Who had diseased workers handling the raw milk? Was the milk rapidly chilled after milking and then kept at the right temperature? Who was using clean equipment? Whose cows were being fed grass? Whose cows were being fed swill? According to Ron Schmid, ND, The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Products The health crisis seemed too daunting with the resources and knowledge available at the time, and the best solution seemed to be pasteurization. Little by little and over time, more and more pasteurization laws passed. Just wait a minute here though, could this enforced health measure, implemented with evidently good intentions, be doing us great damage? Is sterile and dead milk the best solution to this problem? Pasteurization increased shelf life from about one week for refrigerated raw milk to about two to three weeks with standard pasteurization. Refrigerated ultrapasteurized milk keeps for eight weeks and Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk can actually last up to nine months with no refrigeration needed until opened. Pasteurization makes life much simpler for the dairy industry. It allows for easier handling, longer storage times, and the ability to ship far distances. Pasteurization seems to be needed for our current commercial distribution system of milk. Milk tankers can now go from dairy farm to dairy farm picking up raw milk. Perhaps some of those cows are unhealthy, maybe a worker handling the milk is sick, maybe the dairy premises were not clean. Well, the pasteurization process after picking up this milk can prevent contamination from any of those sources. Unfortunately, many unclean dairies still exist. A person would not want to drink this milk meant for commercial purposes without pasteurizing it first. Pasteurized milk can still result in food poisoning. Nina Planck, author of Real Food: What to Eat and Why There are many highly valuable proteins in fresh milk. Milk proteins are very fragile. They are valuable to our immune system and help protect us from disease. They carry vitamins and minerals from the gut to the blood stream. Pasteurization creates irreversible changes to the three-dimensional protein structure, thus destroying it, when heated over 140 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Dr. Charles S. Porter, M.D., author of Milk Diet As A Remedy For Chronic Disease The body then thinks these denatured proteins are a foreign protein and it creates an immune defense. More and more people cannot tolerate pasteurized milk. It is one of the top eight allergies. These unaltered three-dimensional proteins in raw milk are our true allies. In fact, the lactoferrin protein has been shown in vitro to be active against E.coli and Candida Albicans. The lactoperoxidase glycoprotein has been shown to be active against Streptococcus, E.coli, and Salmonella typhimurium. It also helps fight off Pseudomonas which is an opportunistic pathogen that is being shown to be more resistant to antibiotics. The resistance of breast-fed infants to infection is attributed to breast milk's non-pasteurized, non-denatured proteins. Yes, raw milk is highly protective against these many pathogens we come across. Since this changeover to pasteurized milk becoming the standard, people in developed nations have been experiencing more immune system disorders and allergies. Do you know anyone with allergies? While back in Wisconsin buying farm fresh eggs from a local farmer, I had a chat with this friendly man. He said his children are never sick. But, he sure notices that his children's friends and classmates are sick much more frequently. Have we become too sterile for our own good? Could there be benefits of strengthening our immune systems through exposure to these bacteria after all? Are you a raw milk taste connoisseur that would love to review your favorite tasting raw milk? Make sure you view the monumental California Senate Raw Milk Safety and Consumer Choice Hearing video on Senate Bill 201 which discusses the immune building properties of fresh milk. The more good guys we have on our side with their antibacterial weaponry, the better off we will be! Back in the earlier 1900's, many doctors and people knew the value of organic grass-fed raw milk and were heartsick to see the just about complete demise of living raw milk's availability to the consumer. Yes, a traditional food that had nourished man for thousands of years was just about totally banished from the American landscape. Thus began the more clandestine pursuance for those who wanted to make sure they could somehow still obtain this phenomenal whole food. These smart people knew real milk's safety record when the cows and milk are properly handled. After all, this was a whole dairy food that had safely nourished those many generations before them. Yes, drinking raw milk was their nutritional heritage and they did not want to be denied its health value. Please view the remarkable video on my home page to view native peoples in perfect health thriving on indigenous diets of unprocessed whole foods, including unpasteurized milk. According to Nina Planck, author of Real Food, in 1908 the final blow came when President Theodore Roosevelt concluded that raw milk itself was to blame for food-borne illness. More pasteurization laws passed, and by 1949, pasteurization was the law in most states. As more people become educated on this raw milk topic, many are seeking out this valuable long lost living whole food source. Click here to find your closest raw milk supplier. Many Europeans still drink their milk unprocessed. In fact, there are even raw milk vending machines distributing safe milk in schools and to many venues with great delight of the consumers. We now have more improved technology, regulatory agencies, resources, and animal husbandry wisdom. Hopefully, more conscientious farmers practicing good management will be inspired and supported to safely bring this powerful health building food back to a larger market. I look forward to watching this evolution.  "Let's Have Raw Milk, From Which We Make Our Butter, "Fly" Safely To Reach A Larger Market Where The Consumer Will Have The Right To Choose." - Eryn Paige Ice Cream Making With Raw Milk You might have to look around a bit, but when you find a good source of raw milk, why don't you indulge yourself with healthy raw milk ice cream. I make my ice cream with the best selling Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker.  We love it. Check out a wide selection of great ice cream makers at my Amazon ice cream maker store. Delicious tasting and nutritious ice cream awaits you! Go to Amazon Tempting Real Milk Ice Cream Maker Store
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The slop milk industry flourished. However, the poor cows did not, nor did the health of the people drinking this adulterated swill milk. The cows on this unnatural diet became diseased. These poor animals were quite a site to see. Overwhelming stench surrounded these dairies. It was a literal cesspool of sickness, liquid manure, and slop.
, in the 1850's some laws were passed to try to curb this ungodly dairy mismanagement. But the atrocious death machines, distillery waste dairies continued on. Dr. Schmid states in 1907 over half the milk in Cincinnati was still being produced in these slop houses.
says, both raw and pasteurized milk can carry pathogens. However, Planck says the majority of dairy-related food poisoning cases are traced to pasteurized milk and cheese. Planck says raw milk in not inherently more susceptible to pathogens than pasteurized milk or any other food.
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