Scientific American Aug 31, 2010
“A bumper crop of recent illness related to raw milk accentuates the problem. Last month, at least 30 people, including two children, tested positive for strains of campylobacter and Escherichia coli bacteria traced to raw (nonpasteurized) goat milk. In June five people in Minnesota were diagnosed with E. coli traced to raw cow’s milk from a local dairy. One, a toddler, was hospitalized after he developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure that is a potentially deadly E. coli complication.
They are hardly isolated cases. In fact, there have already been more reports of raw milk-related illness outbreaks this year in the U.S. than in any of the past five years.
Such outbreaks are largely preventable if milk is pasteurized, says Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The process (known as high temperature, short time (HTST) pasteurization) was invented more than a century ago and relies on heat at least 72 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds to kill the stew of E. coli, campylobacter, Listeria, salmonella and other microbes that may lurk in milk that comes straight from a cow or goat. Medical experts consider pasteurization as one of the major breakthroughs in public health history. “A triumph,” Tauxe adds.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=raw-milk-debate
“In June five people in Minnesota were diagnosed with E. coli”
And how does this compare to deaths from auto accidents, doctor errors, drug abuse, etc ?
Life is risky, stop singling out select activities to target for control. Idiots.
Yes, drinking raw milk is insane in the first place so I really don’t understand why these granola eaters are complaining in the first place. Are they trying to kill their kids? Abe Lincolns mother died drinking raw milk when he was a kid, milk sickness. Although I don’t think it was from the cows eating a poisonous plant not bacteria, but still, I wouldn’t eat anything raw today. About 20 years ago I almost died from salmonella poisoning from eating raw eggs trying to be Rocky.