Do you drink raw milk - milk that
has not been pasteurized to destroy germs that can make you sick? Milk is a
highly perishable food product and is an excellent medium for transmitting a
variety of diseases.
Raw milk is unprocessed milk that is drunk just as it comes
from the cow, goat or sheep.
Pasteurized milk, on the other hand, is heated to kill all disease-causing
bacteria that may be found in raw milk.
Raw milk usually comes from farms
that have not been approved or inspected, and which are not monitored by government
for drug residues such as antibiotics.
Some people say they grew up drinking
raw milk and never became sick from it. However, public health authorities know
of many cases where people got sick from drinking raw milk. While mandatory
pasteurization of milk has virtually eliminated large outbreaks of milk borne
disease in Canada, occasional cases still remind us of the hazards of raw milk
consumption.
For example:
In Chilliwack, 5 members of a
family became ill with Salmonella from raw goat's milk.
On Central Vancouver Island, 9
out of 13 kindergarten children became ill with Campylobacter after
drinking raw milk while on a school visit to a local farm.
In a separate outbreak, also on
Central Vancouver Island, five children from different families were diagnosed
with an infection of E. coli 0157:H7 after drinking raw goat's milk
from the same farm. Two of the children had to be hospitalized. Samples of
the raw goat's milk were tested and found to have the same strain of E.
coli 0157:H7 that caused the illnesses.
In Vernon, a number of cases of
Campylobacter were traced to the consumption of raw milk.
In the Kootenays, a 35 year old
woman needed surgery and a long stay in hospital due to Brucella
infection. She had previously drunk raw milk from several sources.
On the Queen Charlotte Islands,
2 people developed Toxoplasmosis after drinking raw goat's milk.
There are a number of myths about
this. For example
Is raw milk better for you? No. There is no evidence that raw milk is better for you than
pasteurized milk.
Does pasteurized milk contain
additives or preservatives?
By law, vitamins A and D must be added to pasteurized milk. Nothing else can
be added to milk.
(Vitamin A helps you see better in
dim light, and to tell colors apart. Vitamin D helps your body take up calcium,
and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.)
Does raw milk help keep you
from getting sick? No. There is no evidence that raw milk makes you more resistant
to disease.
Does raw milk help develop
teeth better than pasteurized milk? No. There is no evidence that raw milk helps your teeth develop
any better than pasteurized milk.
Anyone can get sick from the disease-causing
agents which may be found in raw milk, However, infants, children, the elderly,
and people with certain chronic diseases are at more risk of getting sick
from drinking raw milk because they are more vulnerable to infection. Infants
and children are at even higher risk because they usually drink a lot of milk.
Only buy your milk products from
proper stores. Milk that you buy from grocery stores or other reputable commercial
stores must be pasteurized and packaged in an approved dairy
plant.
All milk sold in British Columbia must be pasteurized. That is the law!
If you live in a rural area
of B.C. and cannot buy commercially pasteurized milk, you can follow this process
for home pasteurization:
First, disinfect the
clean and empty milk bottles and tops by boiling in water for 10 minutes,
or by putting them in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 100º C (212º
F).
Place raw milk in the
top part of a double boiler. Gradually raise the temperature of the milk to
63º C (145º F) or hotter and keep it at this temperature for at
least 30 minutes. Stir often to prevent burning, and to keep the temperature
even.
Check the temperature
of the milk often with a clean, reliable thermometer. Put the thermometer
about 2/3 of the way into the milk (do not rest it on the side or the bottom
of the container). If you find the temperature has fallen below 63º C
(145º F), raise the temperature to 63º C (145º F) or hotter
and start the 30 minute timing over again.
Cool the pasteurized
milk quickly by putting the top part of the double boiler in ice water. Stir
often to make it cool off faster.
Pour the cooled milk
into the disinfected bottles and put them in the fridge at 4º C (40º
F).
Pasteurized milk that is
kept in the fridge should keep for up to two weeks.
NOTE: Do NOT
use a microwave oven to pasteurize milk at home. You must use the method described
above.
For more information on raw milk,
please contact your local environmental health officer.
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