From Bill Marler’s Food Safety News:
“The Obama administration delivered its official response last week to the 6,078 signors of a petition on WhiteHouse.gov who requested federal-level legalization of all raw milk sales. The response indicated that the White House continues to support the current regulation of raw milk sales, which allow states to determine legality but prohibits its sale across state lines.
The response was written by Doug McKalip, White House senior policy adviser for rural affairs, who said the administration recognizes the importance of letting consumers control their own food choices. The 143 illness outbreaks associated with raw milk since 1987, however, underscore the dangers of its consumption.
“This administration believes that food safety policy should be based on science,” McKalip wrote. “In this case, we support pasteurization to protect the safety of the milk supply because the health risks associated with raw milk are well documented.”….”
The Bovine 
This reply to the petition was in all likely hood take from a stack of copies just for this response. Interesting how they mention illness of raw milk but ignore the 89 or so deaths from tainted pasteurized milk dating from 1973. There is only one answer to corruption. Get rid of the corrupt.
So 11 deaths out of a population of 300,000,000 makes raw milk dangerous to public health? No one in the U.S. has died from drinking raw milk in 14 years according to the Alliance for Raw Milk Internationale (ARMi). “Severe illnesses are extremely rare.” Yes, food safety policy should be based on science — but whose science and how reliable and trustworthy is the data? Pasteurization may give the illusion of safety — a growing number of people cannot tolerate pasteurized, homogenized milk and their health suffers as a result. This is exactly what science is proving along with proving the health benefits of raw milk from healthy, pastured animals.
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It strikes me that the average person doesn’t think too much about the food they buy or its safety. Most people don’t research their food in advance. Usually it’s just based on cost or popularity with a blind trust that it’s going to be safe.
On the other hand, most raw milk drinkers are health conscious: they do their homework and they source out what they’re after in order to be healthy, even above cost and convenience.
If raw milk was dangerous or risky, true health-conscious folks would be the first to say, “Whoa, people shouldn’t be drinking this stuff!” So if, in reality, they are the ones saying, “Legalize access to raw milk”, you know that these people know what they’re asking for. If raw milk consumers were asking for legalized access only because it was cheaper or popular, their petition wouldn’t hold as much weight. But when raw milk drinkers have educated themselves on the pros and cons, and they are willing to pay more to obtain it, that should speak volumes to our elected officials.
The White House shouldn’t be babysitting us as if they know better than we do. Instead they should be listening to the very consumers who are giving it the most scrutiny on their own behalf.
Ramona Jack
Lynden, Washington