{"id":2248351,"date":"2024-05-20T05:02:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T09:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/raw-milk-what-to-know-about-pasteurization-and-bird-flu\/"},"modified":"2024-05-20T05:12:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T09:12:08","slug":"raw-milk-what-to-know-about-pasteurization-and-bird-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/raw-milk-what-to-know-about-pasteurization-and-bird-flu\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Pasteurization and Avian Influenza in Raw Milk"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fraw-milk-what-to-know-about-pasteurization-and-bird-flu%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2248351&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The discovery of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/higher-brainwashing\/\" title=\"Enhanced Mental Conditioning\">bird flu virus<\/a> in commercial milk fuelled the pasteurization debate. Sales of raw milk surged\u200b post-USDA&#8217;s avian influenza announcement in March, showing a 65% increase over the same period\u200b last year. Although \u200dpasteurization is \u200ba standard \u200csafety measure, skepticism arises, \u200cespecially with the rise of both COVID-19 and bird flu concerns. The presence of bird\u200c flu virus in commercial milk has intensified the discussion around pasteurization. Following the USDA&#8217;s\u200c avian influenza\u200d update in \u200dMarch, sales of raw milk saw a \u200bsignificant 65% boost compared to last year. Despite\u200c pasteurization being a common safety practice, doubts have surfaced, particularly \u2062amidst growing concerns about COVID-19 and bird\u200d flu.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The discovery of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bird-flu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"milk\">bird flu <\/a>virus particles in the commercial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/milk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"milk\">milk<\/a> supply has reignited public interest in the century-long debate over pasteurizing milk.<\/p>\n<p>Sales of raw milk, or milk that has not undergone the heat treatment process to kill harmful bacteria, have spiked in recent weeks since the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/usda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"US Department of Agriculture\">Department of Agriculture<\/a> announced in March that herds of dairy cattle had been infected with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-animal-rights-activist-storms-court-during-nba-playoff-game-slammed-down-by-security-guard\/\" title=\"WATCH: Animal Rights Activist Storms Court During NBA Playoff Game, Slammed Down By Security Guard\">highly pathogenic avian influenza<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the market research firm NIQ, weekly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/health\/raw-milk-sales-spike-despite-cdcs-warnings-of-risk-associated-with-bird-flu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"sales\">sales<\/a> of raw cow\u2019s milk have increased by 21% since March 25 and 65% from the same period last year. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/what-is-pasteurization-a-dairy-expert-explains-how-it-protects-against-foodborne-illness-including-avian-flu-229335\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Pasteurization\">Pasteurization<\/a> was invented by French scientist Louis Pasteur in the 1860s and involves heating liquids, including milk, to eliminate dangerous bacteria, such as E. coli, camplyobacter, and salmonella. The United States adopted mandatory pasteurization laws in 1924, making the process a century-old standard for the milk industry in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>But pasteurization has come under suspicion in recent years, raw milk industry leaders told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, alongside a rise in skepticism of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-cabinet-pick-defended-unconstitutional-religious-restrictions\/\" title=\"Biden Cabinet Pick Defended Unconstitutional Religious Restrictions\">public health agencies<\/a> that promote it. The negative sentiment rose at the onset of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"COVID-19 pandemic\">COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> and again with the outbreak of the bird flu.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCOVID was the best thing that ever happened to raw milk,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rawmilkinstitute.org\/our-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Mark McAffee\">Mark McAffee<\/a>, president of the Raw Milk Institute in California, one of the 14 states where the sale of raw milk is allowed in grocery stores and the 21 states where it is allowed to be sold directly by farmers, said.<\/p>\n<p>McAffee has nearly 25 years of raw milk farming experience since he took over his family farm in the 1990s. He maintains it is possible to produce raw milk that eliminates some of the risk.<\/p>\n<p>He said that raw milk is tested rigorously before it is shipped. \u201cAnd you do it really, really well with rapid chilling and all that kind of stuff. You produce a delicious product people just can\u2019t get enough of,\u201d he said<\/p>\n<h2>Is avian flu in raw milk?<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Food and Drug Administration \">Food and Drug Administration <\/a>has maintained that pasteurization is the primary reason why bird flu has not been a problem in the commercial milk supply, with the destruction of milk from sick cows another factor. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe pasteurization process has served public health well for more than 100 years,\u201d the FDA said in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/alerts-advisories-safety-information\/updates-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"press release\">press release<\/a> May 10. \u201cEven if virus is detected in raw milk, pasteurization is generally expected to eliminate pathogens to a level that does not pose a risk to consumer health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As of May 10, the FDA is still testing raw milk samples to quantify exactly how much of the virus infected cows are shedding into their unprocessed milk. In spite of these tests, however, the FDA and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cdc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> strongly advise against consuming any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/9-cases-of-salmonella-linked-to-raw-milk-products-reported-in-san-diego\/\" title=\"9 Salmonella cases linked to raw milk products reported in San Diego.\">raw milk products<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Anna Catharina <a href=\"https:\/\/bergevetconsulting.com\/biography.html\">Berge<\/a>, a Swedish veterinarian and epidemiologist specializing in raw milk production, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that the risk of human transmission through milk is low even if live virus is found in raw milk. That is because avian flu viruses usually are spread through close contact and respiratory droplets, not food.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen looking at avian influenza as a whole, this virus group, these viruses have never ever been involved in oral infections. They\u2019re always just respiratory or contact infections,\u201d Berge said. \u201cThere has never been a risk of transmission through food for any types of avian influenza identified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foodscience.psu.edu\/directory\/kek14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Kerry Kaylegian\">Kerry Kaylegian<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dewine-the-president-needs-to-come-to-east-palestine-biden-ill-be-out-there-at-some-point\/\" title=\"DeWine: \u2018The President Needs To Come\u2019 To East Palestine. Biden: I\u2019ll \u2018Be Out There At Some Point\u2019\">associate research professor<\/a> in the Food Science Department at Penn State University, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that her work focuses on educating farmers in Pennsylvania about the dangers of selling raw milk, although it is legal in the commonwealth. She says there is still much more to learn about the virus, but that doesn\u2019t mean raw milk is safe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know right now how people can get infected, if people can get infected from the milk. So a lot of this is precautionary as far as the bird flu goes, but there\u2019s always the risk of other pathogens in milk,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Milk was <a href=\"https:\/\/ncims.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/2019-PMO.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"responsible\">responsible<\/a> for 25% of all disease outbreaks due to infected food and contaminated water in 1938, according to the FDA. Today, however, milk and fluid milk products account for less than 1% of such outbreaks <\/p>\n<h2>Conditions on the farm<\/h2>\n<p>Even before the bird flu outbreak, much of the debate over raw milk revolved around the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rawmilkinstitute.org\/common-standards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"cleanliness\">cleanliness<\/a> of conditions on dairy farms, with raw milk advocates highlighting the safe conditions they are legally required to uphold during every step of the process. <\/p>\n<p>McAffee said that pasteurization disincentivizes industrial farmers from preventing bacteria and viruses from entering the raw milk supply in the first place because they know they will be killed in the heating process. For him, it\u2019s a simple question of economics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re being paid so little for their milk that the standards under the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and FDA allow anything to get in because it\u2019s going to get pasteurized,\u201d McAffee said of industrialized farms. \u201cOn raw milk farms, you got to be pathogen-free, clean, healthy cows. You monitor everything, but you\u2019re being paid ten times more for the milk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the potentially perverse incentive of pasteurization, Kaylegian said that her experience doesn\u2019t support it, especially since certain dairy producers will pay premiums for higher quality milk, irrespective of pasteurization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think every farmer should want to treat their animals as humanely as possible and keep the barns as clean as possible,\u201d Kaylegian said. \u201cKeeping your animals healthy will give you the cleanest milk, the best quality milk.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Skepticism of the American regulatory agencies<\/h2>\n<p>Berge and other colleagues in Europe have conducted several studies for academic journals finding significant benefits to raw milk consumption, such as decreasing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacionline.org\/article\/S0091-6749(11)01234-6\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"allergies\">allergies<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacionline.org\/article\/S0091-6749(11)01234-6\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"asthma\">asthma<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacionline.org\/article\/S0091-6749(06)00651-8\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"eczema\">eczema<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacionline.org\/article\/S0091-6749%2814%2901274-3\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"respiratory infections\">respiratory infections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Raw milk advocates claim pasteurization alters the whey protein content of the milk, but the FDA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/buy-store-serve-safe-food\/raw-milk-misconceptions-and-danger-raw-milk-consumption\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"maintains\">maintains<\/a> that the heating process only has a limited effect on these properties.<\/p>\n<p>When asked why European scientists and regulatory agencies are more open to the debate on raw milk than the U.S., Berge said it boils down to a stark difference in food culture. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that the background of Europe is somewhat different with very long historical traditions and varied food culture,\u201d Berge said. \u201cThis is preserving our heritage. So governments do not and can not strip down our cultural heritage and identity and to eat sterile food that is deemed microbiologically safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Berge also said that regulatory agencies in the U.S. \u201care sitting in the lap of Big Pharma and food industries,\u201d making them more susceptible to industry persuasion than those of other countries.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe dairy industry quickly realized that by being able to pasteurize the milk, it\u2019s so much easier to transport, handle, sell and keep a good shelf-life by the consumer,\u201d Berge said. \u201cTherefore, they have no interest in seeing government funding to go into studies that show that pasteurized milk is allergenic and raw milk can be produced hygienically and safely.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The situation in Europe, however, is a bit different in that citizens of European countries are also much more likely to trust government agencies, Berge says. She says that there \u201cis a lot more distrust\u201d of government in the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The presence of bird flu virus in commercial milk has sparked renewed debate on pasteurization. Sales of raw milk, untreated to eliminate harmful bacteria, surged after the Department of Agriculture&#8217;s March announcement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2666,"featured_media":2248352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-1414600334-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2248351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-1414600334-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2666"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2248351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2248352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2248351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2248351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2248351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}