Real Raw Milk Facts
85% Of Outbreaks And Illnesses From Milk Products Traced To Raw Milk Or 60-day Aged Raw Milk Cheeses
By Bill Marler
Marler Blog
5/15/11
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:
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 deathsRecalls (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 milkEstimate 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.
Real Life Dangers of Raw Milk
Several families offered to share their stories on video to help raise awareness about the potential risks and negative effects on health from drinking contaminated raw milk.
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