Beyond religion
Raw Milk
Three percent of the dairy supply. Ninety six percent of the illness.
The ratio
One comparison does most of the work here.
Share of dairy consumed, against share of dairy-related illness
CDC data, 2009 to 2014. Raw dairy is a small fraction of consumption and the overwhelming majority of outbreak illness.
Source: Costard et al., Emerging Infectious Diseases, CDC
An earlier CDC study covering 1993 to 2006 found the same pattern: under 1 percent of dairy consumed, 60 percent of dairy related outbreaks, with a hospitalization rate of 13 percent against 1 percent for pasteurized products. Langer et al. The later study found hospitalization 45 times more likely. Source
What is in it
Campylobacter (54 percent of raw dairy outbreaks), Salmonella (22 percent), Shiga toxin producing E. coli (13 percent), plus Brucella and Listeria.
The one that matters most: E. coli O157:H7 causes hemolytic uremic syndrome, which destroys kidneys, and it hits small children hardest. Source
Bird flu, which is current
A 2025 Nature Medicine study found infectious H5N1 survives the raw milk cheesemaking process and remains viable through 120 days of aging. The study
When they say
"Pasteurization destroys the nutrients." The core nutrients, protein, calcium, and vitamins, are essentially unaffected. 2025 review in Foods
"Pasteurized milk causes lactose intolerance." Lactose is a sugar. Heat at pasteurization temperatures does not break it down, so pasteurization cannot be removing it. Lactose intolerance is a genetic lactase deficiency.
"Our grandparents drank raw milk." Many were not fine. Milk borne bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis were significant causes of childhood death before pasteurization laws spread in the early 1900s. Milbank Quarterly
Concede these
- Raw milk from a clean, tested herd is genuinely lower risk than from a poorly run operation.
- Industrial dairy has real problems worth caring about. Wanting food from a farm you can drive to is a reasonable instinct.