People buying raw milk despite health warnings

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The Maryland health department has found bacteria in two bottles of raw milk produced at The Family Cow, a dairy farm near Scotland, Pa. A campylobacter outbreak has sickened 35 people in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. ASSOCIATED PRESS/Markell DeLoatch

February 4, 2012

Infection outbreak shows people are buying it anyway

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press Sat Feb 04, 2012, 07:14 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — An outbreak of bacterial infections on the East Coast illustrates the popularity of raw, unpasteurized milk despite strong warnings from public health officials about the potential danger.

Even U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the Republican presidential contender, has joined the cause of consumers looking to buy unprocessed "real foods" straight from the farm, saying government shouldn't deny them that choice.

An outbreak of a campylobacter bacterial infection on the East Coast is a reminder of the potential hazards, however. Raw milk from a dairy in Pennsylvania is now linked to 38 illnesses in four states, and the farm has temporarily suspended sales.

Consumers who want unpasteurized milk have to work to find it. It's against federal law to transport it across state lines and most states don't allow it to be sold in stores off the farm. Twenty states prohibit raw milk sales altogether.

The government says the milk is unsafe because of the pathogens cows may encounter on the farm. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta points out that raw milk killed many people — especially young children — before the onset of pasteurization, which heats milk to high temperatures to kill disease-causing germs.

The CDC says pasteurized milk is rich in proteins, carbohydrates and other nutrients, and that heat only slightly decreases thiamine, vitamin B12, and vitamin C.

While the government contends that milk is only a minor source of those nutrients anyway, raw milk advocates say that's proof that pasteurization makes milk less wholesome and pure.

The government doesn't keep records of raw milk consumption or sales but it's clear that the product is riding the coattails of a larger food movement that encourages less processing and more "real food." Raw milk goes a step further than organic milk free of growth hormones. Organic milk, too, has enjoyed a sales boost in recent years.

Advocates say far more illnesses are caused each year by leafy greens, deli meats and other products produced in much larger quantities than raw milk.

Paul, a doctor, appears to have acknowledged the potential risks of raw milk when he said last summer that "what I'm doing in politics is not exactly the medical opinion." Still, he said, "as long as you don't force other people, and as long as you don't defraud people, you ought to have a choice."

The fact that there's even a debate infuriates many in the public health community.

Sarah Klein, an attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said advocates often mislead consumers by describing bucolic settings and happy cows.

"These are still animals, they defecate inches from where the milk is produced," she says. "... It's just a matter of course that raw milk is contaminated."

Edwin Shank, the owner of Pennsylvania dairy Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, posted a message on the farm's website last week saying that the farm's testing had shown samples to be negative for campylobacter and speculated that the illnesses may be from another cause. But the Pennsylvania health department has linked the outbreak to the farm, and a spokeswoman for the Maryland's health department says an unopened bottle from the farm tested positive for campylobacter.