Is drinking raw milk
safe? It depends on the type of milk and how it’s consumed.
For example, raw human
breast milk seems to be the best food for infants. In contrast, raw cows' milk is
generally not recommended for humans by health experts, although raw cows' milk
may be relatively safe if prepared and consumed properly. Below are more
details.
A
Mother’s Raw Breast Milk for Her Baby/Babies
Most experts seem to
agree that for human babies raw breast milk from their mother is the best food.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-25 [1] states on page 54, “Human milk feeding alone is the ideal form of nutrition
from birth through about age 6 months. Human milk provides necessary nutrients,
protective factors against disease, and other unique immunological benefits.”
The same page 54 goes on
to state, “Human milk can support an infant’s nutrient needs for about the
first 6 months of life, with the exception of vitamin D and potentially iron.”
The page goes on to recommend that if a family is using donor milk from someone
other than the birth mother to “obtain pasteurized donor human milk from a source,
such as an accredited human milk bank, that has screened its donors and taken
appropriate safety precautions.”
The document also
provides guidelines for the proper handling and storage of breast milk (and human
milk) on page 55 and goes on to discuss using vitamin D supplements on page 56.
In addition to The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, The World Health Organization website [2] states, “Breastmilk is the ideal food for infants.” The National Institutes of Health [3] and the American Academy of Pediatrics [4] also support breastfeeding.
I want to add that it’s important for a
mother who breastfeeds a child to try to eat a nutritious diet.
Raw
Cows' Milk and Pasteurized Cows' Milk
Just as raw human breast milk
is the best food source for a human infant, raw cows' milk is likely the best
source of nutrition for calves.
However, raw cows' milk for humans may be risky unless precautions are taken.
Although many people drink raw milk without experiencing harmful side effects, a significant number of others do experience problems. Studies make it clear that persons are more likely to get sick from raw milk than pasteurized milk, as noted in a U.S. Food & Drug Administration [5] article.
However, raw milk
problems may often be due in large part to improper processing. An article on
the Raw Milk Institute [6] distinguishes between two types of raw milk, that "intended for direct human
consumption" and that "intended for pasteurization." It states safety steps taken
to make the raw milk for direct human consumption safer. Still, the health risks
of raw milk exceed those of pasteurized milk.
By the way, cow milking has progressed much over the years. During a 2022 visit to Chicago, I toured the huge, magnificent Chicago Museum of Science and Industry where I saw a robotic milker and a device that allowed museum visitors to test their milking ability, as shown in the two photos below that I took. Those are not actual cows in the photos.
Personally, I recommend
persons consuming cows’ milk to consume pasteurized milk. But as I discuss later in this article, I strongly urge humans to seek to adhere to a nutritious vegan diet that avoids
dairy and animal products.
Nonetheless, I recognize
that many choose to enjoy a cow’s milk, including my mom, who has loved milk
since childhood.
My
Mom’s Childhood Raw Milk Consumption from Family Cows
My 91-year-old mom drank
a lot of raw milk as a child. My belief is that it did her more good than harm.
During her childhood, refrigeration was limited. Mom doesn’t even think her
local grocery had refrigeration or carried milk at that time. She drank raw milk
from a family cow.
According to mom, when
they milked their cow twice a day, they cleaned the cow’s udders with water
from the well. After milking the cow, they strained the raw milk through a
clean cloth into a container. They boiled the cloth to sterilize it prior to
using it. They stored the milk in their cool well or a cool coal bank.
After mom’s family got a
refrigerator, they refrigerated the milk. Also, when they starting buying
bleach, they bleached the cloth used to strain the milk instead of boiling the cloth.
They rinsed the bleach out of the cloth before using it.
During my mom’s high school years, she sometimes milked the family cow when her mom was unable to.
Though my mom and her
family apparently consumed raw cows' milk safely, persons who choose to consume raw cows' milk would do well to take plenty of precautions.
A Vegan Diet
Humans who eat a well-balanced nutritious vegan diet can avoid drinking cows' milk—raw or pasteurized.
Personally, I seek to adhere to a quality (though I’m not perfect at it) vegan diet. Therefore, I try to avoid consuming milk from a cow at all.
I recommend a well-balanced vegan diet for others too. A vegan diet may even be cheaper than one that includes meat and dairy products.
Inflation has rendered prices in my 2016 article, “Eat a Vegan Diet for Under $5 a Day,” [7] outdated. Still, the article’s basic principles remain true.
Concluding
Thoughts
I recommend breastfeeding human infants raw milk from the child’s mother when reasonably possible.
For older children and adults, I recommend seeking to adhere to a nutritious vegan diet.
If cows' milk is consumed by humans, I strongly recommend that it be pasteurized milk.
But I am neither a medical professional nor a dietician. I
can’t give either medical or dietary guidance.
ENDNOTES:
1 “Dietary Guidelines for
Americans 2020-2025”; USDA Publication #: USDA-FNS-2020-2025-DGA HHS
Publication #: HHS-ODPHP-2020-2025-01-DGA-A; page 54; webpage accessed April
29, 2025; https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf
2 “Breastfeeding”; World Health
Organization; webpage accessed April 29, 2025; https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding#tab=tab_1
3 “Infant and Young Child
Feeding: Model Chapter for Textbooks for Medical Students and Allied Health
Professionals: Session 2: The physiological basis of breastfeeding”; National
Institute of Health, National Library of Medicine, National Center for
Biotechnology Information; copyright 2009, World Health Organization; webpage accessed April 29, 2025; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK148970/
4 Meek, Joan Younger and
Noble, Lawrence; “Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk”; American
Academy of Pediatrics; June 27, 2022; webpage accessed April 29, 2025; https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/150/1/e2022057988/188347/Policy-Statement-Breastfeeding-and-the-Use-of
5 “Raw Milk Misconceptions and the Danger of Raw Milk Consumption”; U.S. Food & Drug Administration; content current as of March 5, 2024; webpage accessed April 29, 2025; https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/raw-milk-misconceptions-and-danger-raw-milk-consumption
6 Smith, Sarah; “Two
Types of Raw Milk”; Raw Milk Institute; August 9, 2024; webpage accessed April
29, 2025; https://www.rawmilkinstitute.org/updates/two-types-of-raw-milk
7 Gibson, James Edwin; “Eat a Vegan Diet for Under $5 a Day”; Google Blogger; October 24, 2016; webpage accessed April 29, 2025; https://oneopinionsomeviews.blogspot.com/2016/10/vegan-diet-for-under-5-day.html
