Raw Milk Push Intensifies Despite Illness Outbreaks and Scientific Warnings

Raw milk advocates have introduced more than 40 bills across 18 states to expand access to unpasteurized dairy products, with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly supporting the movement by drinking raw milk at the White House and promising to halt its suppression. This push comes despite at least five disease outbreaks in the past year, including a recent E. coli outbreak from California-based Raw Farm that sickened nine people—half of them children under 5—with one victim developing potentially lifelong kidney impairment. Scientists warn that raw dairy causes 840 times more illness and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products, with more than 2,600 people sickened between 1998 and 2018. While some raw milk farmers implement rigorous daily testing protocols and sell their product for up to $29 per gallon, public health experts emphasize that pasteurization—heating milk to 161 degrees for 15 seconds—remains essential for killing dangerous bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, and listeria.

Legislative push to expand raw milk access across states

• ▪More than 40 bills introduced as of late April would make it easier to buy, sell or consume raw milk.
• ▪Bills favoring raw milk have been introduced in the current legislative session in 18 states.
• ▪U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drank shots of raw milk at the White House in May.
• ▪The Interstate Milk Freedom Act was introduced in March by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree.

Health risks and documented illness outbreaks from raw milk

• ▪More than 200 outbreaks tied to raw milk sickened more than 2,600 people and sent 225 to hospitals between 1998 and 2018.
• ▪In European and American societies of the early and mid-19th century, infant mortality rates were 30-60 times greater than today.
• ▪Raw dairy products cause 840 times more illness than pasteurized dairy products.
• ▪Pasteurization kills germs by heating milk to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 seconds.
• ▪Chris Martin nearly died in 2006 after drinking raw milk contaminated with E. coli sold by Organic Pastures.
• ▪Half of the nine people sickened in the Raw Farm E. coli outbreak were children younger than 5.
• ▪Mari Tardiff was hospitalized for five months after drinking raw milk contaminated with campylobacter in 2008.
• ▪Dairy products currently account for about 1% of foodborne illnesses in the United States.
• ▪Before milk standards were adopted more than a century ago, about 25% of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. were related to dairy consumption.

Debate over federal regulation and safety standards

• ▪Donald Schaffner is a Rutgers University food science professor.
• ▪Petra Anne Levin is a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
• ▪Raw milk prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon.
• ▪Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy in Foristell, Missouri keeps 15 cows and sells raw milk for $29 a gallon.
• ▪The Raw Milk Institute is headed by Raw Farm owner Mark McAfee.
• ▪Mary McGonigle-Martin is co-chair of Stop Foodborne Illness, a consumer advocacy group.
• ▪Ben Beichler operates Creambrook Farm in Middlebrook, Virginia, which relies on herd shares to distribute raw milk.

Perspective of Public health officials and scientists

• ▪Pasteurization kills germs by heating milk to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 seconds.
• ▪Raw dairy products cause 840 times more illness than pasteurized dairy products.

Perspective of Raw milk illness victims and consumer safety advocates

• ▪Chris Martin nearly died in 2006 after drinking raw milk contaminated with E. coli sold by Organic Pastures.
• ▪Mari Tardiff was hospitalized for five months after drinking raw milk contaminated with campylobacter in 2008.

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