New European Scientific Study on Raw Milk’s Impact on Children’s Health

From The Raw Food World:

“(TRFW News) A large European study led by Professor Erika von Mutius reports that fresh, non-pasteurized cow’s milk actually protects children from respiratory infections, fever and inflammation of the middle ear. The study does acknowledge that untreated cow’s milk could contain pathogenic microorganisms that could pose a health risk, but researchers argue for different processing methods to be used to preserve the protective agents in raw milk.  (1,2,3)

This long-term study explored the role of dietary and environmental factors in developing allergic illness.  The study began with 1,000 pregnant women who were asked to document their children’s diet and health weekly for the first year of life. (1,2,3)

New European study correlates raw milk with fewer colds and infections

Via Realmilk.com

“Raw milk opponents and doctors strongly warn against the consumption of unpasteurized milk for infants, children and pregnant women, arguing that these individuals are more susceptible to illnesses that raw milk could cause. However, a new study that took place across Austria, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland shows a connection between the consumption of raw milk and lowered rates of colds and infections among children. This study clearly relates Raw milk and lower infections in children.

The study, detailed in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, aimed to assess the effects of consumption of raw vs. boiled vs. industrially processed milks on common infections (including coughing, runny nose, fever, ear infection or diarrhea) in babies’ first year of life.

New study on lactose intolerance finds raw milk is not necessarily a solution

David E. Gumpert, writing for Grist.org:

“For many years, raw-milk advocates have claimed that unpasteurized milk counters lactose intolerance — the upset stomach many people feel after consuming dairy products. There have been loads of anecdotal claims, and an unpublished study of raw milk drinkers in Michigan in 2007 showed that more than 80 percent of 155 individuals who said they had been diagnosed with lactose intolerance could handle raw milk without problems.

But opponents of raw milk, prime among them the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have always been adamant that there’s no difference between raw and pasteurized milk for individuals who are lactose intolerant.

USDA sponsors study to learn how consumers judge raw milk safety

Here’s an excerpt from the report in Health X-Pert.org:

Why do raw milk drinkers keep on drinking it -- in spite of "expert" warnings to the contrary -- enquiring minds at the USDA want to know. Home on the Range photo.

“Despite mounting evidence of the health risks in unpasteurized milk, raw milk advocates continue to tout its alleged benefits, dismissing warnings about bacterial contaminants that can sicken or even kill adults and children, as I write in the Informed Patient column today.

The situation bedevils public-health officials and food-safety experts. “We know raw milk is hazardous, but we don’t know what it is that drives people to consume it anyway,” says Jeffrey LeJeune, a microbiologist and researcher at the Food Animal Health Research Program at Ohio State University.

Dr. LeJeune is conducting a study with funding from the USDA to learn more about how consumers make judgments about milk safety. “There are tacit webs of belief that drive behavior, and everyone acts in what they believe to be a rational way,” Dr. LeJeune says.