Essay: Raw milk

Discussion:
When I was doing this research I have learned that this raw milk deal is very serious and it is something that we must be aware of at all time. Raw milk contains numerous components that assist in: Killing pathogens in the milk, preventing pathogen absorption across the intestinal wall; strengthening the Immune System.
When I was looking at the positive of drinking raw milk, I learned that in this form of milk it has anti- microbial and immune improving componenet that can actually reduce the effectiveness it has with pasteurization and all of these can be terminated by ultra-pasteurization. Although raw milk, like any food, can become tainted and infectious, the dangers of raw milk are greatly blown up. ‘ In an study of reports on 70 outbreaks attributed to raw milk, we found many examples of reporting bias, errors and poor analysis resulting in most outbreaks having either no valid positive milk sample or no valid statistical association.’
The real reason why people actually decided not to drink raw milk is because they consider that their milk should be heated up, so that it can kill all the harmful bacteria that can hurt us and human beings. A lot of people believe that heating up or pasteurizing can take away the nutrients that’s in the milk itself. Also doing some research I learned that some people actually like the taste of raw milk better than the other milk that has been pasteurized and such. The reason being is because they want to support local business who sell this raw milk, so that these people have the opportunity to make money and take care of their families.
Also I was noticing that a lot of people think that raw milk is very difficult foo to deal with when it comes to the digestive system. Even though it does sound very nasty to drink since it hasn’t been tainted with the proper formula to make it clean for the body. I can’t imagine drinking such a drink it makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it. I feel as though people should do a lot more research about raw milk and who it would harm more than others, because if it doesn’t harm certain people as much as others than maybe they can drink it and people can still sell it and make some money from it. In the end we still have to live off of money so it would be a shame to stop selling it because people are scared of it and they don’t know what it is really capable of doing. ‘It is chock-full of both fat and water-soluble vitamins, a wide range of minerals and trace elements, all eight essential amino acids, more than 60 enzymes, and CLA’an omega-6 fatty acid with impressive effects on everything from insulin resistance to cancer to cardiovascular disease. Raw milk is delicious medicine.10’ Money-making manufacturers know their milk cannot be sold unpasteurized. To admit this would endanger their entire job. Instead, they down play raw milk, regardless of the fact that humanity has carefully drank milk in its natural state for years.
Raw milk advocates are upset that the government is denying their right to choose unpasteurized milk from healthy cows because of the problems associated with conventionally produced milk.
Now when it comes to the cons of this a lot of people have very different feelings and it is something to read about. I felt their pain because I think it would hurt you more than it can help you out in the end. In my opinion I really feel as though it would harm you more if you haven’t drank that type of milk before. If you were to just say, ‘Hey I’m going to try raw milk today, it may come at a terrible cost.’ The reason being is because your body can fight off the bacteria that this form of milk has in it. That’s why they pasteurize milk so that our bodies can tolerate the milk we drink now.
There are a number of risk that people will give you when it comes to raw milk. They say that the risk actually outweighs the benefits when it comes to drinking raw milk. They basically go into how raw milk can be tainted with a lot of germs, bacteria and it can make you really sick. It can even get you certain disease that may be hard for your own body to fight off, and if you can’t fight off the disease or bacteria than you can die. I highly doubt people want to die over drinking raw milk. In more serious cases, these, and other illnesses, can require hospitalization and in rare instances, death. A small number of people develop Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes paralysis, from drinking raw milk, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Natural health advocates have long cautioned against drinking milk because of the increased risk of ear infections, asthma, and eczema associated with its consumption. This applies only to commercially produced milk, not raw milk from organic farms. Raw milk actually helps protect against allergic reactions and boosts the immune system.
One thing that I didn’t learn about this raw milk are the people who shouldn’t drink it, and why they shouldn’t. Expecting women and kids should never drink raw milk because they’re at the highest risk for developing terrible symptoms from bacteria and pests. Only drink milk that’s been pasteurized and stored at temperatures at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. If you purchase milk from a local farm, always ask the farmer if it’s been pasteurized. Check labels, too. If a bottle of milk doesn’t clearly state that it’s been pasteurized, chances are it hasn’t, in which case you shouldn’t drink it.
A lot of studies have actually put in writing the benefits that raw milk actually has, especially one called milk cure which was used in the 1900’s at the Mayo Clinic. They used this when people had disease like cancer to chronic fatigue and also even weight loss. A comment in a report prepared by the Weston A. Price Foundation helps explain the contradictory stances on this ancient food: ‘The literature implicating raw milk in food borne illness exhibits a systematic bias against this food. In many cases, this bias is not intentional, but is a product of sloppy scientific principles.’ The report concludes, ‘It appears that most investigators are thoroughly convinced that raw milk poses a major threat to public health, and thus they often rush to judgment to implicate raw milk even when the science is not fully supportive.’ Now there’s food for thought.11′
Both sides of the raw milk debate feel strongly about their respective positions, and both share valid concerns. Federal and state health agencies view the consumption of any raw milk as risky to human health. To them, milk is milk, and the only way to protect the public from the potential danger of pathogens such as salmonella, E. coli, and listeria is through pasteurization.’ According to statistics used by the FDA, raw milk has been linked to 1,837 cases of illness between 1998 and 2009. These led to 195 hospitalizations and two deaths.’
The health risks are rare but real. The health benefits are unproven, with the only somewhat substantiated advantage requiring that the raw milk be consumed at young ages, when the offsetting health risks are higher. Risk-based analysis supports the continuation of strong warnings from responsible agencies to continue the practice of pasteurization. For populations that are pregnant, or likely to suffer more severely from the dehydration and depletion caused by even an ordinary food poisoning (especially young children or elderly or immune suppressed people), raw milk is a risk not worth taking.
The way our environment can actually benefit from people consuming raw milk would be in an animal practices and diminishing the chemical use as well on these animals. ‘Pasteurization is certainly preferable to the use of drugs to suppress disease causing bacteria in livestock populations sufficiently to equate to the protection pasteurization provides. But raw milk does taste better.3’And many rely on that there are unverified health benefits. The presence of a people willing to agree to the dangers is the only source of data if such benefits are ever to be confirmed.
VI. Recommendations
What changes can we make so we assure that this problem doesn’t get worse?
The changes I feel as though we can make are actually cracking down on those who sell the raw milk. I found out it was legal in some states. I would probably go to those stated and make sure that the people they are selling the milk to are actually in good health, if I find out that they are not then I would be the one to shut them down. The reason being is because who would want a business open that is the reason why people are dying due to their product. I know people say raw milk is great and all but I really beg to differ I think they should do a little more research about this raw milk and disease ordeal and get to the bottom of it and actually see what in the milk is making people sick. If they can find a way that is not pasteurizing than they should do it, so that the people who are drinking the raw milk can continue to do so. I will say this those who are still alive after drinking this raw milk are very healthy and strong because I couldn’t even imagine the thought of drinking it let alone still living after I consumed it.
Also, some other recommendations would be to actually have a permit to sale anything dealing with raw milk only on the farm that it is grown on. Because you never know when some con artist will be out there trying to sell some raw milk and you think it’s just regular milk and you give it to someone who is actually not equip with handling this type of product, then you would have a serious problem.
It would be nice to also make them have a form of liability insurance so that if something were to happen to someone who bought their items they would be covered instead of being sued. Have warning signs on the raw milk so people will actually know the hazard of what they are about to consume in their bodies.
Have a law or regulation that states if someone sells this type of milk in a non-selling state, the consequences they could be facing from the law.