In response to the Rally for Raw Milk (a.k.a., “Mrs. Moo goes to Washington,” “The Million Moo March” or “All the President’s Cows”) to be held in Washington D.C., I thought I would give (before Ron Paul, et. al., don the “moostache”) a few statistics from the last year and a half on raw milk and raw milk cheese safety:

Summary:

A review of 16 outbreaks since January 2010 revealed that 14 (88%) were due to raw dairy products (raw milk and aged raw milk cheeses) including 155 of 183 (85%) illnesses and 23 of 33 (70%) hospitalizations from these illnessesRaw dairy illnesses were caused by Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli O157:H7 and other shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and SalmonellaOne pasteurized milk outbreak from Salmonella was reported during this time period and caused 23 illnesses and 2 hospitalizationsNo known deaths were reported from any dairy product (raw or pasteurized) during this time periodAll in-state raw dairy sales were legal; 2 farms allegedly violated federal law by shipping raw milk interstate through buyer’s clubs

Details:

Outbreaks

14 raw dairy outbreaks with 155 illnesses, 23 hospitalizations, and no deaths (12 fluid raw milk, 2 aged raw milk cheese)1 pasteurized dairy outbreak with 23 illnesses, 2 hospitalizations, and no deaths1 queso fresco Mexican-style cheese outbreak with 5 illnesses and hospitalizations, no deaths3 sporadic illnesses and hospitalizations from illegal Mexican-style cheese, no deaths

Recalls (no illnesses reported)

11 raw dairy (5 fluid raw milk, 6 aged raw milk cheese)5 queso fresco cheese1 chocolate milk due to inadequate pasteurization1 imported Italian cheese made from pasteurized milk

Estimate of raw milk and pasteurized milk outbreaks and illnesses, January 1, 2010 – May 15, 2011:

Based on the reported numbers above:

14 times higher number of outbreaks from unpasteurized milk (14/1)6.7 times higher number of illnesses from unpasteurized milk (155/23)11.5 times higher number of hospitalizations from unpasteurized milk (23/2)

However, if only 1-3% (from FoodNet data estimates) of total milk consumed is unpasteurized milk, then during this period, the risk of consuming a unpasteurized milk vs. a pasteurized milk product was:

~1400 times higher number of outbreaks from an equivalent serving of unpasteurized milk relative to pasteurized milk

~670 times higher number of illness from an equivalent serving of unpasteurized milk relative to pasteurized milk

~1150 times higher number of hospitalizations from unpasteurized milk relative to pasteurized milk

Of note, according to the USDA, total milk output for 2010 was 193 billion pounds (24,125,000,000 gallons). Almost two-thirds of the milk supply is used to produce a wide array of dairy products. Almost half of the milk supply is used to turn out about 9 billion pounds of cheese each year. The production of ice cream and other frozen dairy products totals about 1.5 billion gallons. Butter, yogurt and nonfat dry milk make up the balance of production (http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/dairy/background.htm). Less than 1% of the total comprises legal fluid raw milk.

See, 2010-2011 Outbreaks, illnesses and recalls linked to raw (unpasteurized) and pasteurized dairy products, United States (January 1, 2010 – May 15, 2011) Chart with Citations.