"raw milk" news and stories

When I was young, my mom went through a raw milk phase. We were living in the Los Angeles area at the time and you could buy raw milk at the local health food store. Her step-father, a cancer researcher and a huge devotee of technology and food science, was appalled when he found out, as truly thought she was putting our health in danger. Eventually she stopped buying it, mostly because of cost and availability, not because of parental pressure or any negative experiences.

Because of this, while I grew up drinking conventional milk, I've never had any negative or concerned feelings towards raw milk. However, I realize I'm in the minority, especially these days, as localities crack down on the availability of raw milk. Milk is pasteurized in order to kill potentially harmful bacteria in the milk. However, raw milk advocates say that the pasteurization also kills all the beneficial bacteria, as well as destroying the fresh, creamy taste that you can only get with raw milk.

What do you think about the raw milk debate? Before you answer that question, go check out this story at Reason Magazine, entitled Raw Milk Rebellion, as well as this piece on Culinate. It's a personal account of one woman's experience with drinking raw milk. Now, what do you think?

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You're on vacation in Greece when your stomach gives a sudden lurch and you start to suspect that the grilled lamb you ate the night before might not have been as squeaky clean as you thought (this is not a scenario I've ever found myself in, but hey, it could happen). Instead of running out to a pharmacy for the local equivalent of Pepto-Bismol, head to the local cheese shop for a slab of raw milk feta.

According to Panagiotis Chanos, a researcher from the University of Lincoln, they've been able "to isolate lactic acid bacteria found in raw sheep milk from small farms in Macedonia, northern Greece. Several of these friendly bacteria naturally produce antibiotics that killed off dangerous food-poisoning bacteria like Listeria."

They are hoping to take this research and leverage it into new ways to fight Listeria, as it has been known to cause death in populations who have weakened immune systems.

[via The Grinder]

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The world is once again safe for stinky cheeses. At least for now.

Cheese traditionalists have won their battle to make Camembert makers use unpasteurized milk to obtain the prestigious AOC label.

This puts an end to the so-called "Camembert War," fought over the past year, between local producers and two multinational companies, who were concerned that the use of raw milk carried too much risk of e-coli potential. Litigation is expensive these days, you know.

The local cheesemakers, however, being French, were livid at the mere suggestion of a change in process. Only lait cru (raw milk) could be used to make traditional Camembert, (and only from local cows!) because it introduced flavors that connected the cheese to its local soil. It's all in keeping with the original recipe, they argued, which was received by a Camembert woman, Marie Harel in 1791, in exchange for hiding a priest on the run from French revolutionaries.

The use of pasteurized milk would make Camembert inauthentic, they said, which would threaten its Appelation D'Origine Controlle (AOC) distinction. That's the stamp of authenticity cheese purists and foodies around the world look for when buying Camembert and other regional products.

The French governing body that controls the AOC will formerly approve the rule in coming months, according to press accounts.

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My mom used to buy raw milk when I was a kid, until her step-father (who was a scientist) bombarded her with information about how she was putting our health at risk by allowing us to drink it. While she never totally bought his argument, the mere chance that she could possibly be endangering us was enough to convince her to end our raw milk days.

Last Friday the California Department of Food and Agriculture issued a recall of Organic Pastures Dairy Co. cream despite the fact that there are no reported incidents of illness linked to that product at this time. This is not the first time that state health officials have recalled Organic Pastures products. A year ago to the month they issued a similar recall. Raw milk producers and consumers are crying foul, protesting that the state is simply trying to shut down the raw milk industry. Health officials state that they issued the recall in the best interests of the consumers. Admittedly, the tests showed signs of listeria, but representatives from the dairy said that it was only present after nine days of testing. Another battle in the raw milk war, it will be interesting to see how this one works out. (For a more complete discussion of this issue, check out this post on The Complete Patient).

Via the Ethicurean

If you've thrown out all your fresh spinach, make room in the dumpster for raw milk. California has just issued a recall of raw, unpasteurized milk products from Fresno-based company Organic Pastures. The recall of all of the company's milk items, with the exception of butter and cheese, comes after four children became seriously ill after consuming them. Tests from all four children, one who drank colostrum and three who drank raw milk, tested positive for the presence of bacteria 0157:H7, which is the same type of E. coli responsible for contamination of spinach, but a different strain.