Raw Milk Sicknesses Rise

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/raw-milk-sicknesses-rise/?WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20141224

December 16, 2014 |By Dina Fine Maron

Got bacteria? That’s the question du jour for people on both sides of the debate about raw milk. That’s milk which has not undergone pasteurization, the century-old process of using heat to kill potentially harmful bacteria.

Thirty states allow consumers to buy raw milk. Proponents of raw milk contend that it provides health benefits and tastes better. Opponents note that more people are getting sick from bacteria in the raw milk. And the CDC recommends avoiding it. A new study finds that between 2010 and 2012, 5 percent of all U.S. food-borne outbreaks with a known source were tied to raw milk. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases of similar illness resulting from ingestion of the same food. The research is in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. [Elisabeth A. Mungai, Casey Barton Behravesh and L. Hannah Gould, Increased Outbreaks Associated with Nonpasteurized Milk, United States, 2007–2012]

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