Backers of raw milk are pushing to make the product more widely available and easier to obtain, even as a 鈥� one of at least five in the past year 鈥� sickens U.S. children.
More than supporting raw milk have been introduced in statehouses across the nation, . A growing number of states are making it legal to sell. Dairy farmers say they can barely keep it in stock, even though prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon.
Top government officials and internet influencers are helping drive this momentum. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downed shots of raw milk at the White House last May and previously promised to halt of the product. On social media, posts about raw milk have surged in recent months, often touting unproven claims about its health benefits.
All of this alarms public health officials, who have long warned that unpasteurized milk can harbor . The current outbreak 鈥� tied to from California-based Raw Farm 鈥� has sickened nine people with E. coli, half of them children younger than 5. One victim developed a serious complication that can impair kidney function for life.
Petra Anne Levin, a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said she doesn鈥檛 understand the products’ appeal.
鈥淚f you wouldn鈥檛 lick a cow鈥檚 underneath, why would you drink raw milk?鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason pasteurization is around.鈥�
Pasteurization kills germs by heating the milk, commonly to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (71.7 degrees Celsius) for at least 15 seconds. Experts say it has no significant impact on milk鈥檚 nutritional quality and has saved millions of people from foodborne illness.
But some consumers would rather drink their milk raw despite the risk. Recognizing this trend, advocates and critics alike are increasingly calling for federal regulation of the product.
鈥淧eople want access,鈥� said Mary McGonigle-Martin, co-chair of Stop Foodborne Illness, a consumer advocacy group. 鈥淧ublic health has lost the battle on raw milk.鈥�
Raw milk legislation pops up across the nation
Bills favoring raw milk have been introduced in the current legislative session in 18 states, including those controlled by Democrats and Republicans.
AP searched legislation in all 50 states using the bill-tracking software Plural and analyzed bills for whether they expand or streamline access to unpasteurized milk or products made from it. More than 40 bills introduced as of late April would make it easier to buy, sell or consume raw milk.
Some would allow raw milk to be sold for human consumption for the first time. A bill in New Jersey鈥檚 Senate, for example, would create a raw milk permitting program.
鈥淵ou can buy cigarettes. You can buy alcohol. You can buy quote-unquote legalized marijuana,鈥� said state Sen. Michael Testa, a Republican sponsor. 鈥淲hy shouldn鈥檛 someone be able to consume raw milk?鈥�
If the bill becomes law, New Jersey would join more than three dozen states in allowing raw milk sales. Wider access will probably mean more outbreaks, said Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers University food science professor.
Other bills seek to manage, guide or expand already legal sales. A bill advancing in the Iowa House would make it easier for farmers to sell unpasteurized products by offering them at farm stores alongside foods like meat.
Its sponsor, Republican state Rep. Chad Ingels, said he was initially opposed to legalizing raw milk because of safety concerns.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 law now, and I鈥檓 very pro-local foods,鈥� said Ingels, who expects the current bill to pass. 鈥淚 just thought it made sense to allow those farm businesses to sell all their products in one location.鈥�
Two bills in Missouri would allow unpasteurized dairy products to be sold in grocery stores, farmers鈥� markets or similar places as long as they include a label warning of the potential for harmful bacteria and herds are tested.
鈥淲e just want to make it more accessible, so that way, people have the freedom of choice,鈥� said Republican state Rep. Bryant Wolfin, who sponsored one of the bills.
The legislation specifically invokes the Raw Milk Institute, defining 鈥渞etail raw milk or cream鈥� as being produced on dairy farms that in one bill meet standards set by the California-based organization, and in the other 鈥渉ave obtained listed status鈥� from the institute.
The organization, headed by Raw Farm owner Mark McAfee, says its mission is to improve the safety and quality of raw milk, which is how Wolfin sees it. But Schaffner said the organization focuses on raw milk advocacy rather than managing risk. He pointed out that McAfee鈥檚 farm has been linked to .
It鈥檚 unclear how many raw milk bills will pass in statehouses this year. But there is also legislation being considered on a national level.
A bipartisan bill in the U.S. House would prevent federal departments, agencies or courts from restricting the movement of raw milk between two states where its sale is legal. Called the Interstate Milk Freedom Act, it was introduced in March by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree.
Whether it passes or not, there are steps the federal government could take to make raw milk more available, legal experts say. The FDA could revoke the ban on interstate sales. The agency could also create national raw milk standards and urge or incentivize states to enforce them.
FDA officials did not respond to questions about whether such actions are likely.
Raw milk risks are well-documented
Despite raw milk’s popularity, scientists and public health experts warn against drinking it. Websites run by the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention point to the well-documented risks of serious illness from a host of germs, including campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli.
A CDC review counted tied to raw milk that sickened more than 2,600 people and sent 225 to hospitals between 1998 and 2018.
Another analysis found that raw dairy products cause and 45 times more hospitalizations than their pasteurized counterparts.
Children are especially vulnerable to such illness, because their immune systems are immature and because they drink milk frequently, noted Alex O鈥橞rien, food safety and quality coordinator for the Center for Dairy Research in Madison, Wisconsin.
Before milk standards were adopted more than a century ago, about 25% of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. were related to dairy consumption, O鈥橞rien said. Now, dairy products account for about 1% of such illnesses. In European and American societies of the early and mid-19th century, research shows infant mortality rates were 30-60 times greater than today. In one example, thousands of infants died every year from a condition known as 鈥渟ummer diarrhea,鈥� which was primarily caused by bacterial contamination in milk that worsened in the heat.
O鈥橞rien, who grew up on a farm, said he knows people who drink raw milk and has consumed it himself in the past. Drinking it once might not hurt you, he said, but the risk increases with every exposure.
Understanding and accepting the risks of raw milk has become more difficult in this political climate, said Martin, the consumer advocate.
鈥淭hey can鈥檛 grasp it, or they think it鈥檚 so rare it won鈥檛 happen to them,鈥� she said.
Martin鈥檚 son, Chris, nearly died in 2006 after drinking raw milk contaminated with E. coli sold by Organic Pastures, Raw Farm’s previous name. For two decades, Martin has worked to raise awareness of the dangers and hold suppliers accountable.
Mari Tardiff, of Ashland, Oregon, was hospitalized for five months after drinking raw milk contaminated with campylobacter in 2008. She said she tried it because she was interested in 鈥渁 natural probiotic.鈥�
Doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barr茅 syndrome, caused by her campylobacter infection. She spent time on a ventilator and was temporarily paralyzed and unable to talk. When she got home, she used a wheelchair and slept in a hospital bed, relying on her husband to turn her every two hours so she wouldn鈥檛 get pressure sores.
鈥淵our whole life is completely blown apart,鈥� she said.
Still, she said she wouldn’t tell other adults whether to drink raw milk 鈥� although she worries about giving it to kids.
鈥淚f you make a mistake, it鈥檚 one thing to come to terms with when you鈥檙e the one dealing with the consequences,鈥� said Tardiff, now 70. 鈥淏ut holy moly 鈥� if I did something like that and one of my kids or my grandchildren was going through what I went through, I would never forgive myself.鈥�
Raw milk supporters see an 鈥榚xciting鈥� future, but concerns remain
Proponents of raw milk are gratified that it鈥檚 becoming more available. Even in states where it can鈥檛 be sold in stores for human consumption, people can get raw milk marketed for pets or join a 鈥渉erd share鈥� in which consumers buy a partial ownership in a dairy herd.
鈥淚鈥檝e been involved in raw milk for roughly 14 years,鈥� said Ben Beichler, of Creambrook Farm in Middlebrook, Virginia, which relies on herd shares. 鈥淭o see how public perception and political perception has altered over the years with raw milk is quite exciting.鈥�
Beichler said safety is key.
鈥淢y family and my wife, who鈥檚 currently pregnant, drink about a gallon of our own raw milk every single day,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o if there鈥檚 anybody who has a vested interest in making sure our milk is safe, it is us.鈥�
Beichler said his 150-cow farm works with a veterinarian on regular herd checks and has a safety process that includes sending milk samples to labs every week to test for common germs.
In Foristell, Missouri, Tony Huffstutter said his family tests their milk daily for bacteria in an on-site lab at their Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy, where they keep 15 cows and sell raw milk for $29 a gallon.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just go out there, throw a bucket under the cow and start milking it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are so many steps in doing it right.鈥�
He said raw milk shouldn鈥檛 be treated differently from other natural products such as spinach, which has been associated with past foodborne outbreaks.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 pasteurize the salad,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 force you to only buy cooked salad.鈥�
With raw milk gaining a foothold, Martin said she believes that the best action might be for the FDA to regulate it as strictly as pasteurized dairy products.
McAfee agrees. 鈥淗igh standards and testing should be part of that,鈥� he said.
Schaffner, the food safety expert, also favors regulation. Although he has serious reservations about giving raw milk to kids, he calls himself 鈥渁 raw milk libertarian鈥� when it comes to adults.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like legalization of weed, right?鈥� he said. 鈥淚f people want it, we should find a way to regulate it and do it safely.鈥�
Then again, he said, there鈥檚 already a dependable way of making raw milk safe.
鈥淚t鈥檚 called pasteurization,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it works really well.鈥�
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