Brock Press

Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Focus

Raw milk advocates also argue that, ironically, pasteurized milk is more pathogenically dangerous. The reasoning is tricky, but goes like this: raw milk contains several species of bacteria that form lactic acid (Lactobacillus spp.) from lactose. As they grow, these bacteria release their lactic acid and the milk becomes acidic. This acid in turn prevents the growth of other harmful bacteria and in this way, milk is consumable long after it turns sour. Eventually, this acid will curdle the milk but even then, the milk is still safe.
Pasteurization on the other hand, kills off the lactic acid bacteria, so as milk ages there is no increase in pH. When pasteurized milk gets old, it spoils instead of souring. Pasteurized milk goes bad because other harmful bacteria can grow unchecked by the lactic acid. These bacteria are highly pathogenic and leave milk looking, smelling, and tasting absolutely vile. For this reason and un-intuitively, raw milk has a much longer shelf life than pasteurized milk. Cheese, yogurt and sour cream also require raw milk, as Lactobacillus spp. is necessary for curdling.
Essentially, choosing raw milk over pasteurized milk is a gamble. Most of the time, you will get milk that is healthier, more easily digested, and - depending on personal taste - might actually taste better. However, in the event that the raw milk is unsafe, you will be left dealing with a potentially life-threatening infection.
Health Canada and the Canadian government have decided to err on the side of safety and have outlawed the sale of raw milk. Undeterred, raw milk advocates have come up with some interesting solutions to this legal hurdle. Because the law says selling raw milk is illegal, raw milk producers simply have consumers invest in a portion of their cow.
So, to buy raw milk legally all that is necessary is to simply buy some fraction of a cow from a farmer and then any milk produced is not being sold because you own the source cow.
Buying a quarter of a cow so that you can have raw milk may seem like a great length to go, but for those that believe in the benefits of raw milk, the hassle is worthwhile. On a more conventional scale, several alternatives to pasteurization exist that can reduce microbe count but leave proteins and vitamins intact.
Flash-pasteurization involves higher temperatures at shorter time frames and is effective at preserving the taste and nutrition of raw milk.
Cold-pasteurization is a technique that involves no temperature increase at all. Rather ionizing radiation is used to kill microbes, however this has been linked to various cancers and metabolic changes and is under study for more widespread use.
Despite being the only species to consume the milk of another animal, humans have been milking cows for more than 8,000 years. As we get better at understanding disease and sanitation, we have come up with some ingenious ways to keep ourselves healthy. If raw milk is in fact as nourishing as advocates claim, science will work towards developing a way to make it safe for mass use. The not too distant future may in fact see the world enjoying a glass of raw milk instead of pasteurized - at least those who can stomach the taste.

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