It is safe?
There are two types of raw milk: raw milk produced for pasteurization and raw milk produced for consumption raw.
The milk that is produced for pasteurization is produced with different cleaning protocols, bacteria count standards, and basically the entire system is coming at it from a different point of view. Dairyman producing milk for pasteurization are being paid the same as their fathers were in the 80s. Because of this there is no motivation to produce milk to the standards needed for consumption raw. They can not afford to, and it would be a waste of their time as it will be heavily processed anyway.
Raw milk produced for consumption raw has food safety at top of mind. Everything from how the calves are raised to the ways the cows are fed is different . Our cows graze on average 270 days a year. Having the cows on fresh pasture reduces the stress on the cows, and a pasture based diet without the strong reliance on grain feeding found in most conventional dairies, leads to nearly neutral gut ph and therefore safer milk.
All food including raw milk has potential for food borne illness. That being said we go to great lengths to make sure the milk we produce is one of the safest foods you can feed your family. We test each batch of milk so that we know that what we are delivering you is safe.
Here are some resources on raw milk safety:
Chris Kresser breaks down the CDC numbers and helps to determine, how safe is raw milk? This is a really detailed, helpful article if you have any questions about the safety of raw milk. (Click here for full article)
“With approximately 9.4 million people drinking raw milk, that means you have about a 1 in 6 million chance of being hospitalized from drinking raw milk.
To put this in perspective, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, you have a roughly 1 in 8,000 chance of dying in a motor vehicle accident if you live in the U.S. Therefore, you have a 750 times greater chance of dying in a car crash than becoming hospitalized from drinking raw milk.
The risk of dying in a plane crash (1 in 2,000,000) is orders of magnitude lower than dying in a car accident (1 in 8,000) – and yet most people who are afraid of flying don’t hesitate to get in their car. But as unlikely as dying in a plane crash is, it’s about 3 times more likely than becoming hospitalized (not dying) from drinking unpasteurized milk.”
Need to talk to your doctor about why you drink raw milk?
This letter provides a comprehensive summary of the latest science on the nutritional and health benefits of raw milk, the negative impacts of pasteurization, and the safety of raw milk.