raw milk?

[LeBFG]

I get raw milk direct from the neighbour's farm. They have very high levels of cleanliness (they have won awards for this). I collect in washed large-necked jars that are easy to clean and they go straight into the fridge. I'm 7 weeks pregnant and really want to drink this milk, the supermarket stuff just doesn't hit the spot.

Having read this up, raw milk has much more vitamins and calcium available, more easy to digest etc. I didn't know there was so many health benefits in raw milk. I know there is the risk from listeriosis of course so my question is: does anyone else drink raw milk during pregnancy and is it true that the listeriosis comes from the processing part (i.e. the risk is in buying raw milk from the supermarket)?

Do you mean the milk is unpasteurised? If so you shouldn't drink it. There are many other infections you can get from drinking raw milk and the risks outweigh any benefits!

I wouldn't risk it in pregnancy, my understanding is that the risk is due to your immune system being slightly supressed, just because normally you drink this & be fine doesn't mean you will be OK whilst pregnant. I've been drinking pasteurised but non-homogenised organic milk which seems like an OK compromise!

It's only 9 months - just drink the pasteurised stuff with your eyes closed! Better safe than sorry.

Your not supposed to.

I did for a week each pregnancy because I was on the Scilly isles. Choice there is straight out the cow or UHT.

Had there been normal pasteurised milk, I don't know.

I just asked the lady at the farm if she'd drank their milk when PG and she said yes.

I have taken a fairly relaxed approach to the "what not to eat" rules but the one thing I am definitely avoiding is dairy products made of unpasteurised milk (and even those made with pasteurised milk if it's cheese like Brie as the listeria can grow again during the cheese maturing). So I wouldn't consider it.

Listeriosis, unlike other forms of food poisoning, passes to the foetus and can cause deformities. So it's riskier than other food poisoning, iyswim.

I have never heard that the listeria comes from processing, ie the risk is from buying raw milk from a supermarket. TBH I doubt that very much, since there is also listeria in raw-milk cheeses, and the cheese makers will not buy their raw milk from the supermarket.

Of course not all raw milk has listeria in it - so any one person may drink it in pregnancy and happen to be fine - but the risk is much higher.

The processing bit does make sense actually. The milk goes from teat through a pipe to cooler tanks where I take it from. To get anywhere else it's put into a lorry then distributed/packaged all with the risk of picking up bugs along the way. Cheese makers have additional processing steps, each adding to the risk of picking up bugs.

It's so hard to get some good information on these things though. Shame though it be, I shall almost certainly carry along the precautionary path. I'll try and source some non-homogenised stuff - thanks Lexiindisguise

I had a google and found this study. It's clear that listeria is much more common in the dairy silo's tanks than in the farm's tanks. So you're probably right that milk picks up more bacteria along the way from farm to dairy. However, there is still too much listeria in the farm tanks for me to be comfortable taking the risk.

Forgot to say - of course the risk also depends on how much milk you drink. I drink a lot (and eat a lot of cheese) so I'd be taking more of a risk if it was unpasteurised. If you have it relatively rarely then it's a smaller risk to have it raw.

The farmers might drink their milk but usually they would boil it first as it used to happen before. What if the animal they took the milk from was ill but at an early, undetected stage where it showed no symptoms? Unfortunately I know of a person who drunk their own produced milk without knowing that the animal was ill and cought a potentially fatal illness (very useful that I can't remember the name of it!) but fortunately managed it. It would be horrible for anyone to get ill like that, let alone a pregnant woman!

NP - I get mine with a veg box from Abel & Cole, farm shops may also be able to help? I find it easier to digest

ninani I grew up on a farm and we never boiled our milk, it just got filtered and put in the fridge.

I wouldn't take the risk myself, if you're in Wales Calon Wen isn't homogenised, but it is pasteurised. They sell it in Tesco and Sainsburys.

I wouldn't drink raw milk in pregnancy. There are a few things I would like to consume which are not advisable in pregnancy but I abstain (alcohol, pate etc) - 9 months isn't so long really. The risks of dangerous bacteria are much greater than with pasteurised milk, that is enough for me.

Lexi - Abel and Cole don't sell raw milk. The law states that only farms are allowed to sell it directly, no middleman.

SimplySoo, she said she had been drinking pasteurised but non-homogenised organic milk from Abel and Cole, not raw milk