Raw milk?

[Barbie222]

Just asking for advice really. I like making my own yoghurt and cottage cheese, trying to make us all healthier etc etc.

My friend reckons I should use raw milk to make it as it'll be even healthier but I always heard it was full of awful stuff and pasteurisation was invented for a reason.

Is she right about raw milk or is it a risk for little ones?

I think I had raw milk when I was a kid and didn't get sick but pretty sure the advice has changed.

[NewbiedontknowwhatIamdoing]

My family and I grew up drinking the stuff, all fine. Must be thousands of people in England drinking it daily, I am sure we would be hearing about it if they were all keeling over.

In the UK its legal for farms to directly sell raw milk to the individual consumer. However it is illegal to for it to be sold to any shops for reselling or for third party consumption. So you can only buy it from a farm for your own consumption.

[ChaoticKate]

Farms that sell raw milk in the UK today are subject to incredibly stringent hygiene regulations so the chances of contacting anything are extremely small if it is bought from a legitimate source. They would lose their livelihood if anybody got ill so it isn't worth the risk to cut corners. They also have to have it tested regularly. There are some health benefits related to drinking raw milk, just as there are to drinking milk from cows fed solely on grass but if I'm honest I think the main draw is the taste. I grew up in the 80s drinking raw milk from our neighbour's house cow and never had a single day off school ill and if I had a local supplier I would still be drinking it today. Might not be 100% safe but then very little is these days, I'd happily take the very small risk for the difference in taste. If anyone is interested, have a look at the Calf at Foot Dairy online, I came across them by chance a while ago and I think their model of producing ethical, grass fed milk looks fantastic. I just wish I lived closer!

[Amummyatlast]

I grew up drinking unpasteurised milk in the 80s. And was treated for TB. So no, I wouldn't.

[KatieDesperado]

Back in the 1930s, my mother had a two year old cousin who died of TB after drinking raw milk from the local farm. He had previously been perfectly healthy. His parents mourned his loss for the rest of their lives.

[user1497357411]

A lot of posters are jumping on those giving anecdotal evidence as to why is it dangerous to drink raw milk, but those who said they'd had it all their lives and are fine go uncontested. I think they sound like people who say that smoking isn't dangerous because they had an uncle who smoked every day from he was 12 and still lived to be 92. So therefore, they claim that smoking doesn't shorten your life. Not true. Uncle could probably have lived to be a 102 if he hadn't smoked. There is solid evidence proving that raw milk is potentially dangerous. It doesn't prove that it is a 100% dangerous no, that true. Just like you don't drop dead with cancer immediately after smoking your first cigaret. I once overlooked a red light and drove out in front of a huge truck. I am still alive. Doesn't mean what I did was safe.

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

Has anyone seen the price of raw milk - jeez! That alone is enough to put me off!

And yes before you start I understand intensive farming, pricing structure, dairy farmers going bust etc.

[Plainlycrackers]

My DGd got abortus fever from raw milk back in the 50's - fit youngish man & it damn near killed him. Pasteurisation is just heating the milk momentarily and homogenisation is basically agitating it so that the cream/fat is spread evenly throughout the milk rather that it settling to the top of the bottle... how do these processes magically make milk hard to digest or cause other difficulties... the first kills bacteria in the milk and the second, which I agree is not really necessary and is only done to ensure uniformity of product for today's increasingly demanding consumers, just moves the molecules around🙄

[Nuttynoo]

Raw milk has to be boiled three times (for a long yime), the fat removed, the culture added, then boiled again if you don't want the yoghurt to go mouldy within a day. Bitter experience - mum's from india and so raw milk was a staple - she would order it from our local dairy specifically. I personally think when you've boiled it that much you might as well have used supermarket milk!

[TonicAndTonic]

I'm a microbiologist, and while I'm really laid back about risks from food, there's no way I would drink raw milk - I don't want to catch either brucellosis or Q fever as they can both be pretty awful.