American Academy of Pediatrics renews its call for a ban on drinking raw milk

The American Academy of Pediatrics renewed its call for a ban on the sale of raw milk and dairy on Oct. 5 because of the life-threatening illnesses it can cause, especially in babies, children, pregnant women and those who are immunocompromised, reports Ellyn Vohnoutka for U.S. News. The AAP said claims about raw milk’s health benefits are false. Currently, 27 states allow the sale of raw milk, and more are pushing to do the same.

Many at the forefront of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again campaign tout the benefits of drinking raw milk and are behind efforts to allow the sale of it. Anemona Hartocollis writes for The New York Times that raw milk advocates believe it is healthier than pasteurized milk because it's less processed, and might support the efforts because of that. She added that alignment with the MAHA movement, which favors autonomy over regulated vaccines, often overlaps with this belief.

“Pasteurization heats milk to a set temperature for a minimum amount of time... [and] kills bacteria, viruses and parasites that once made milk a leading source of food poisoning and infant deaths,” Vohnoutka writes. When milk isn't pasteurized, it can carry bacteria like salmonella, listeria and e. coli.

The AAP is also following the trend of drinking raw cow's milk as a possibility for transmitting bird flu. Birds can transmit flu to dairy cows, and so far, it has only infected a few cattle workers. In 2024, it appeared in raw milk samples. While bird flu hasn’t spread to humans through the consumption of raw milk yet, the AAP does regard it as a concern.

Drinking raw milk can cause humans to contract diseases and infections, but the risks may not tell the full story

Maybe raw milk offers something unique.
(Photo by E. Aceron, Unsplash)

Despite raw milk's popularity with some consumers, many dairy experts warn against consuming raw milk products because of bacteria and disease risks. Raw milk proponents believe the benefits of raw milk products outweigh the concerns, reports Moises Velasquez-Manoff of The New York Times. "Should we take them more seriously?"

The U.S. raw milk movement began decades ago in "small, independent health-food stores," Velasquez-Manoff explains. The pandemic heightened interest in raw milk's benefits. "Mark McAfee, who heads Raw Farm in California, told me during the pandemic, people felt abandoned by medical professionals and began researching ways to care for their own immune systems. Many turned to raw milk, which he calls 'the first food of life.'"

Twenty-five years ago, when McAfee started selling raw milk, his customers were mostly "hippie 'nut-and-berry moms' and natural foodies, as he puts it. . . But as his sales have grown — about 30-fold since then, he estimates — his customers have diversified," Velasquez-Manoff explains. Today’s raw milk consumers come from vastly different backgrounds, with reasons for buying raw milk that range from political freedom to nutritional miracles.

American scientists and food nutrition experts have continually warned against drinking unpasteurized dairy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "unpasteurized dairy products are 840 times as likely as their pasteurized counterparts to lead to infection and illness," Velasquez-Manoff reports. The CDC's list of possible adverse health outcomes includes: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter.

But raw milk research isn't all about potential diseases humans could contract. In fact, recent studies suggest some positive preventative health benefits raw milk consumption might offer. Velasquez-Manoff writes, "There is also a wealth of epidemiological research, most of it from Europe, that suggests that drinking raw milk early in life can protect against the development of asthma and allergies later. . . . The basic notion animating the raw-milk movement — that something good and healthful is lost during processing — may have some validity to it."

While the health risks involved in raw milk consumption lead many dairy experts to adamantly push against drinking it, European studies might point the way toward resolving "what is often called the allergy epidemic," Velasquez-Manoff adds. "Scientists think that if they can identify what’s special about raw milk, and preserve it through treatment that makes it safe, maybe they can turn a widely consumed foodstuff into a powerful tool of preventive medicine."