U.S. officials have ramped up the testing of raw milk as a bird flu (H5N1) outbreak spreads among the nation’s cattle.
The Department of Agriculture will test raw milk samples from across the country after issuing a federal order on Friday. Dairy farms will have to provide samples on request.
The move will help public health officials monitor the spread of the disease, which has spread widely among cattle since it was first detected in U.S. cows in March. It is also designed to protect agricultural workers who may be exposed to the disease through animals in their care.
FDA testing has found harmless, dead traces of the virus in pasteurized milk since April. But raw milk that has not yet gone through this process — and in some cases never will — can harbor live bird flu.
None of the 58 human cases detected so far in the U.S. have been linked to raw milk. Almost all have been traced to exposure to poultry and cattle.
But two batches of raw whole milk and cream products tainted with bird flu virus were recalled last month in California — the state hit hardest by the cattle outbreak.
So far, bird flu has mostly caused mild symptoms in people. But some people in other countries have been hospitalized with severe disease. The virus cannot currently spread from person to person.
What Is Raw Milk?
Simply put, raw milk has not been pasteurized — a process of partial sterilization that kills or deactivates most bacteria and viruses.
Most milk in the U.S. will go through this process before it is sold to consumers. But some is sold in raw form.
Advocates say the raw product tastes better and has more nutritional benefits than pasteurized milk. But there is little scientific evidence to show there are any major benefits to drinking raw milk.
Claims the product can boost health by improving the immune system or preventing chronic allergies or asthma, for example, are not backed by research, according to John Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research and a food science professor, told USA Today.
“You are being conned with these claims,” he said. “This is snake oil.”
The risks of drinking raw milk, on the other hand, are widely documented.
Dangerous pathogens can thrive in untreated milk and milk products. Bacteria like salmonella, E coli and listeria monocytogenes can all persist in milk that has not been pasteurized, as can the viruses that cause disease like tuberculosis, diphtheria and scarlet fever.
Between 2013 and 2019, raw milk was responsible for 75 outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S., affecting 675 people, half of whom were newborn to age 19.
What Is Pasteurization?
Pasteurized milk has been heated to kill or deactivate dangerous microorganisms. Juice, wine, beer and other products are also often pasteurized for the same reason.
Specific pasteurization techniques vary, but the high temperature, short time standard used by the U.S. dairy industry is highly effective at stopping bird flu virus. This involves heating milk to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius) for 15 seconds.
Pasteurization itself was named for microbiologist Louis Pasteur in 1864, who developed a method for partially sterilizing wine.
Before World War II, milk caused about a quarter of foodborne illness in the U.S. Pasteurization, which virtually eliminated this risk, is widely considered one of the most effective food safety interventions of all time.
Can Raw Milk Give You Bird Flu?
The effects of drinking raw milk tainted with bird flu are still uncertain. But experts warn drinking raw milk simply isn’t worth the risk. Unpasteurized milk has caused plenty of other dangerous diseases in the past, including bovine tuberculosis and typhoid fever.
The FDA has warned consumers not to drink raw milk because it might be tainted with bird flu. It’s illegal in some states and cannot be sold over state lines.
Experts like Kerry E. Kaylegian, associate research professor of food science at Penn State, back the FDA’s stance.
“With medical researchers still learning how H5N1 is transmitted, I agree with the FDA that raw milk poses risks not worth taking,” she wrote in an article for The Conversation.
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