The news that a child in Victoria died after drinking unpasteurised milk has left many scratching their heads.
Raw milk manufacturer Mountain View Farm received messages of support on its Facebook page from raw milk fans that accused the media of scare mongering.
But what is raw milk? Who drinks it? And why would you drink it?
What is unpasteurised milk?
Milk is heated to kill harmful bacteria in a process known as pasteurisation.
Developed by French chemist Louis Pasteur in 1864, the process involves milk being heated to around 72C for at least 15 seconds then quickly cooled to at least 4C.
The heating process is designed to remove bacteria. Unpasteurised milk hasn’t undergone this process.
The possibility of potentially deadly bacteria in milk such as E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, and Salmonella is the reason why milk undergoes this chemical process, which has been compulsory in Australia since the 1940s.
The law
Due to health risks, the sale of unpasteurised milk is banned in Australia – and has been since the 1940s.
Consumers and manufacturers can get around this law by selling it for “cosmetic” reasons – such as bath milk.
Available in some health food stores the “bath milk” is packaged like regular milk.
The label on Victoria’s Mountain View Organic Bath Milk states “For Cosmetic Use Only. Not for Human Consumption.”
Earlier this year food writer Matthew Evans described raw milk as being “the new moonshine” with a black market springing up where milk is sold online, at farmer’s markets and off the back of unrefrigerated trucks being driven into Sydney.
“There are so many people trying to get around these regulations (banning commercial sale of raw milk). Personally I don’t really understand why … there is a reason we pasteurise a lot of milk because of distance it has to transport and the number of cows and different dairies. but you have so many people desperate to have raw milk, that they’ll do anything to get it including getting it off back of unrefrigerated trucks that drive to Sydney.”
Why drink raw milk?
Raw milk enthusiasts claim the product is more natural and safer for children – with essential nutrients being destroyed in the pasteurisation process. They also claim pasteurised milk causes lactose intolerance and allergic reactions – although research by the American FDA has disputed this.
Part of its appeal – and driving the ‘black market’ in Australia, according to Evans – is some people’s (unsubstantiated) belief that raw milk can help cure children’s’ autism or eczema.
How do you get sick from drinking raw milk?
Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Rosemary, Lester said the Victorian child died from “a condition called haemolytic uraemic syndrome, which affects the kidneys and the bloodstream”.
The risks of getting sick after drinking raw milk are greater in the elderly and babies says Lester.
“Everyone is vulnerable to illness caused by the pathogens present in raw milk, but the risks are even greater for young children and for the elderly, those with underlying health problems, immuno-compromised or pregnant.
“No matter what precautions are taken by dairy farmers during milking, there can be no guarantee that the milk will be free from harmful bacteria, making pasteurisation essential.”
An infectious diseases physician and microbiologist, Prof Peter Collignon, told Guardian Australia: “The problem is milk comes from the udder, essentially the rear end of the cow. You run a big risk that milk gets contaminated with bugs from the bowels of cow.”
Cows can go from having undetectable levels of pathogens in their milk to being contaminated very quickly.
“One of the thing we know is cows may have these bugs present depending on everything from what they eat [to] how much rain there has been, as rain increases risk of listeria, and a cow with no problems one week can show pathogens in their milk the next,” he said.
Unpasteurised milk can cause potentially fatal gastrointestinal illness, which affects the kidneys and bloodstream and may introduce a parasitic infection that presents as gastroenteritis.
What now for sales of raw milk?
It’s still illegal – but a debate has now sprung up as to whether the industry is being unfairly demonised.
Police say the three-year-old’s death is being handled by the coroner.
Source: The Guardian
