Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized. Humans may consume it because they are unable or unwilling to treat it. Health food proponents tout the benefits of raw milk and the ills of pasteurization and homogenization. The medical community warns of the dangers of not pasteurizing milk. Preferences vary from region to region. Humans consumed raw milk exclusively prior to the industrial revolution and the invention of the pasteurization process in 1864. During the industrial revolution large populations congregated into urban areas detached from the agricultural lifestyle.
Pasteurization was first used in the United States in the 1890s after the discovery of germ (theory) to control the hazards of highly contagious bacterial diseases including bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis that (was thought) to be easily transmitted to humans through the drinking of raw milk. Initially after the scientific discovery of bacteria, (no product testing was available) to determine if a farmer's milk was safe or infected, (so all milk was treated as potentially contagious). After the first test was developed, some farmers actively worked to prevent their infected animals from being killed and removed from food production, or would falsify the test results so that their animals would appear to be free of infection.
When it was first used, pasteurization was thought to make raw milk from any source safer to consume. More recently, farm sanitation has greatly improved and effective testing has been developed for bovine tuberculosis and other diseases, making other approaches to ensuring safety of milk more feasible; however, pasteurization continues to be widely used to prevent infected milk from entering the food supply. The recognition of many potentially deadly pathogens, such as E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, and Salmonella, and their presence in milk products has led to the continuation of pasteurization. The Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health agencies of the United States strongly recommend that the public do not consume raw milk or raw milk products. Young children, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to infections originating in raw milk. On the other hand there are a lot of healthy people who say that raw milk is really good for you, and has been known to cure asthma, allergies, stomach, and other health problems. http://www.realmilk.com/safety/raw-milk-movement-healthy-or-hazardous/.
Raw milk contains small amounts of several vitamins, including both water and fat-soluble vitamins. The content of vitamins B complex, C, D, E and K are negligible. The largest vitamin component of raw milk is vitamin A; a cup of raw milk provides 6 percent of your recommended daily value. Minerals, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, iron and magnesium, are present in raw milk and add to its health benefits. One cup of raw milk provides 30 percent of the recommended daily value of calcium. It seems like back in the day people thrived off of natural foods, and were a lot more durable, and healthy when consuming fresh fruits, vegetables, and even meats that were void of antibiotics, and steroids. Oh, and fresh raw milk was a staple at the breakfast table with coffee, at lunch with tea, or at night, a warm glass of natural raw milk before bed time to help people get a good nights sleep. So is it safe, or is it hazardous? Do the research! http://farmageddonmovie.com/. http://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/raw-milk-regulations.
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