Raw vs Pasteurized Milk

Raw milk tastes better unless you get an "off" bottle, and has far more nutrients. The farms that get the coveted license have to jump SO many hoops that their cows are much healthier than Big Dairy ones and the milk is safe. Plus the bacteria present in raw milk aid in digestion so lactose intolerance isn't an issue. My little girl calls it "world milk"- as in tastiest in the world :)

Pasteurization is a good thing. It saves lives. From the CDC's info page on raw milk...

"Can drinking raw milk hurt me or my family?

Yes. Raw milk can cause serious infections. Raw milk and raw milk products (such as cheeses and yogurts made with raw milk) can be contaminated with bacteria that can cause serious illness, hospitalization, or death. These harmful bacteria include Brucella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Mycobacterium bovis, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Shigella, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica. From 1993 to 2006, 69 outbreaks of human infections resulting from consumption of raw milk were reported to CDC. These outbreaks included a total of 1,505 reported illnesses, 185 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with raw milk likely is greater."

Check out the facts for yourself

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/rawmilk_g...
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/article_e78abd49-f###-#...

My husband is a dairy veterinarian and he says to go for pasturized milk. I have had raw milk straight from his aunt/uncle's dairy and MMMMM! I love it! He favors safety over "natural" so that is probably just his take. My sister on the other hand, would say go for it, because she is a raw foodist and refuses to cook her food or eat meats & breads. We think she is a little too extreme.

My husband says organic milk is no different from regular milk, except in the price. Many large dairies that produce organic milk also have a "regular" herd so that when one of their "organic" cows get sick, they get medical care and are transferred to the regular herd. Their milk is dumped for the duration of whatever the withdrawal period is as dictated by the medicine used. It DOES NOT GO INTO THE MILK SUPPLY. EVER. (Or the diary risks the entire tank of milk being dumped as every tankload is tested.) The only difference is that this cow is no longer certified "organic" because it has been treated with antibiotics to effectively cure infections or whatever ails it, rather than giving it herbal concoctions in hopes it will heal. Much like getting an UTI and trying to cure it by drinking cranberry juice instead of getting antibiotics. (True story, I have a friend who had an UTI and tried to self-treat with essential oils and cranberry juice, she ended up with a kidney infection and had to get a shot, and suffered such excruciating pain for a few more days after that. Why do that to yourself, or your animals?)
Antibiotics work and have its place - overuse is not good, but it is not beneficial to the farmer because every dose costs them and eats into their profit margin (which is upside down now, dairy farmers are losing thousands of dollars PER DAY, PER COW right now.)

The discovery of pasteurization was a great milestone in food safety and the preservation of human health. I cannot understand why anyone would want to expose themselves (or worse, their children) to the dangers of raw milk. Stuff is not automatically "better" because it is raw!

Love it, love it, love it!!!
It has been a wonderful addition to our children's diet... the have issues and sensitivity to pasteurized milk but they thrive on Organic Raw Milk!!!

you will probably find sides for both raw and pasteurized. If you do stick with pasteurized, be sure to go for non-homogonized. The cream floats to the top. you can find it at Raleys in glass jars or Trader Joes in plastic. Trader Joes is called Cream Top.

Hi H.,
Raw milk is wonderful, but only if you can be 100% sure it is from green grass fed cows. Raw milk from cows fed any other diet are at a high risk for producing milk with all the yucky stuff everyone else has mentioned. I had a lot of raw milk as a child, but it was from our neighbors' cow so I was 100% sure they were green grass fed. If you can't be sure, don't risk it!
L.

Just to add my two cents...we are fortunate to be able to obtain raw milk here in California. All independent sources of info about raw milk confirm its many benefits as well as the far superior health and living conditions of the cows that provide it-as the other posts here describe in detail.

I'm a pro raw milker. When i did the research there were a whole lot more illnesses from pasteurized milk. I think it only makes sense to ease the transition from mom's milk to cow's milk, to have the enzymes to help digest it. I think many assume pastuerized milk doesn't have any bacteria but it does, often more than raw milk and stronger strains, but pasteurized milk doesn't have the good bacteria to keep it in check and can easily multiply in P.Milk. Pasteurization greatly reduces the vitamin content also. You probably have researched it and know much of this so I'll stop. My daughter is 14 months and I went from breastfeeding to raw milk when she turned one and she's doing great.
In health! K.

Here is my personal experience: When my daughter turned one, I started giving her pasteurized milk. Then I noticed that she was having severe constipation. I called my doctor and she said that there is nothing to worry about... Well, this continued for about month and a half till my mom advised me to try switching her to raw milk. And we did. Constipation was gone in about two days after switching. She is now 2.5 and still drinks raw milk only. We then tried to switch back to pasteurized milk, but she was constipated again, so yes it is much more expensive (raw milk), but we figured that in our case it is better for our daughter. So, just follow your motherly feelings...
Be blessed.

hello H., i drank raw goats milk through my whole pregnancy. my son, now 20 months drinks mostly raw milk, mostly goat. we started him on it around 1 year of age. you can look up the weston price foundation for up to date info on the benefits of raw over pasturized dairy products.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/04/raw-milk-website-la...
http://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/

I'm a veterinarian and I've been on more dairy farms than the average consumer, and I can tell you that there are MANY opportunities for bacteria to contaminate a milk product on a dairy farm. I'm also a microbiologist, and I can tell you that milk is a perfect multiplying medium for bacteria. I am on a food safety mailing list and I get email newsletters all the time regarding outbreaks of food-borne disease all over the country associated with raw milk and raw milk products. I'd be happy to share if you're interested. I can see NO good enough reason to drink raw milk to outweigh the risks- it's like playing russian roulette with your children's health.

People who grew up on dairy farms may have "self-vaccinated" over the years and are thus more resistant to the bacteria commonly in raw milk. That is not the case for you or your children. Please reconsider exposing them to this risky product.

Hi H.,

Just like you i wanted all the benefits of raw milk, but was afraid of all the bacteria will cause the infection stories...so here what we're doing. We're getting raw milk for the last couple of months and drinking it ourselves. Our daughter is still breastfed. I figured if in 6 months of drinking raw milk we'll feel ok, i won't be scared to give it to my daughter when the time comes. So far, so good, and the tasted is definitely better! One thing, we're drinking raw goat milk, not cow's milk.

I'm not sure where you would obtain the raw milk unless you have your own cows. The last I knew the state of California restricts the sale of raw milk to use for pets only.
As far as the safety issues for your child are concerned, I would tend at that age to be more inclined to use the pasteurized ... again unless you have your own cows so you know the source very well.
I was raised on a farm with nothing but raw milk to drink and it never hurt me, but I also remember the cautions my folks took with various factors that made the milk unfit for our consumption from time to time. Pasteurization helps take care of those things with milk that's produced for mass consumption.

I'm in my mid 40s. I grew up in Northern California near to where I still live. We had a very small farm where my parents grew most of their own food. We had a milk cow. From as young as I can remember we drank fresh cows milk. When my family finally sold the cow, mom mom continued to find people locally who sold their fresh milk until she could no longer find anyone who sold it. I grew up loving milk, but in hind sight I'm not sure how healthy it was for me, because I had a lot of ear infections and remember being very mucusy. I was the only one in my family with this problem, and I grew out of it.

I'm sure there are guidelines somewhere, so do some research and consider whether or not you think anyone in the family has milk alergies.

Hi H.,
About two years ago, I was in your situation. Trying to decide if I wanted to switch to raw milk. We were already doing organic milk. After MONTHS of research, the answer was very clear. Raw milk was the best way to go and far superior to pasteurized milk. I agree with the other post, to ensure safety you must know how your cow's are being fed and taken care of. We drink Organic Pasture's and we love it. I have a laundry list of health issues that are now gone thanks to raw milk. My life is forever changed and it is great to know my son is being raised on raw milk. We are a raw milk family!! If you start drinking Organic Pasture's they have co-ops you can join to get the milk a little cheaper. That is how we buy ours. I LOVE RAW MILK!!!!

Healthy cows= healthy milk.