Op-Ed: Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler on raw milk
From childhood, we have learned that milk is a foundational food, growing strong bones and a healthy body. People likely remember the slogan "Milk, It Does a Body Good" and our meals being served with a glass of milk. Milk is a staple of childhood and a product families can confidently serve their kids.
Grade A Milk is one of the safest food products available because food science, specifically pasteurization, has made it that way. The development of pasteurization has proven effective in killing bacteria in milk that caused tuberculosis, Q fever, diphtheria, severe streptococcal infections, typhoid fever and other foodborne illnesses.
In 1938, 25 % of disease outbreaks due to contaminated food and water were milk related. Today, thanks to pasteurization, it is less than 1%. Of that 1%, it should be noted that 70% of today’s milk-related numbers are linked to raw milk.
Recently raw milk has been in the news being touted as a “natural or healthier” choice, but without the science to support that claim. In fact, study after study has shown that raw milk puts human health at risk with the FDA and CDC advising against drinking raw milk.
Some people have argued that the similar food-borne pathogens are present in raw meats like chicken or beef, but the difference is those foods are cooked, which has the same effect as pasteurization.
I hope to clear up some dangerous and incorrect information that is being shared in the debate around sales of raw milk and “pet milk” in North Carolina. I want people to understand the public health implications that are behind my concern over raw milk sales in North Carolina.
First, let’s go ahead and acknowledge that “pet milk” is being purchased for human consumption in North Carolina. It is a not-so-well-kept secret that this loophole provides access to a completely untested and minimally regulated product that people are consuming and giving to their children.
With regulatory responsibility over food safety, Grade A milk and even the safety of animal feed falling to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, I cannot turn a blind eye to what we know is going on with the sales of raw milk, especially since children are involved.
Science says raw milk is not safe. Raw milk is 150 times more likely to cause an outbreak than pasteurized milk. Even with our best efforts and diligent work, foodborne illnesses, stillbirths and miscarriages will occur if we allow the retail sale of raw milk.
Food safety is a responsibility that I take seriously, especially having seen firsthand the lifelong impacts to children who developed serious health issues from E.coli exposure and the recorded cases of stillbirths that resulted from Listeria in cheese made from raw milk.
These are not hypothetical cases. In 2001, our Food and Drug Protection Division investigation found 11 pregnant women in North Carolina became infected with Listeria from illegal, homemade raw milk cheese. In those cases, five babies were stillborn, three were delivered prematurely and three were born infected with the pathogen.
In 2016, we investigated an outbreak of Campylobacter, which was traced back to raw milk consumption. A 9-year-old child and a parent became ill.
In 2018 in Tennessee, 10 children were sickened with E.coli after consuming raw milk. Nine of them were hospitalized and seven developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention article in 2022 noted that from 2013-2018 nearly half of food-borne illnesses associated with raw milk involved children from infant age to 19 years old.
This same article also noted that 78 % of outbreaks linked to raw milk occurred in states that allow retail sales of raw milk.
Children cannot make choices for themselves and feeding “pet milk” to a child is a risk that is just too great to allow. If we can reduce the risk of life altering complications for children and stillbirths in pregnant women, why wouldn’t we? Drinking raw milk is like playing Russian roulette with two loaded chambers.
The issue of raw milk sales has come up before in the legislature, but this time I believe there is an even greater sense of urgency due to the recent discovery of high pathogenic avian influenza in milk.
This is a game changer because it adds yet another pathogen that further increases the risks associated with raw milk. With the current H5N1 outbreak of high path avian influenza across the United States, there have been 70 confirmed human cases and one death.
We know pasteurizing raw milk to 161 degrees for 15 seconds will kill HPAI, plus E.coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other harmful pathogens and render milk safe. Raw milk offers no scientifically proven safeguards.
The department also oversees animal feed. There have been documented cases of pet cats becoming ill or dying from consuming raw pet food and unpasteurized milk contaminated by highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The adaptability of the virus and expansion of its host range seems to lend support to scientists’ theories that HPAI could lead to the next pandemic and points to the need for caution with the virus and humans.
The risk of consuming raw milk far outweighs any perceived health benefits being claimed. The bacteria found in raw milk are not probiotics. Research by the FDA and CDC has shown that there is no meaningful difference between the nutrient content of pasteurized and unpasteurized milk.
Farming is a tough business, and I am sympathetic to trying to develop new opportunities for sales, but selling raw milk carries big financial and legal risks if someone is seriously injured. Most farms don’t have limited liability insurance that would cover raw milk injuries. One outbreak and farmers could lose the farm.
Many are trying to suggest this measure is only about small farms being able to sell raw milk locally, but we have been contacted by out-of-state companies, some as far away as California, about selling raw milk in North Carolina in retail locations as pet food.
As I have looked over the data and information, the science shows me raw milk presents a significant public health risk particularly to children, people with compromised immune systems and the elderly. Having seen the impacts of food-borne illnesses and being charged with food safety for humans and pets, my conscious leads me to push for changes to legislation that will protect the most vulnerable among us – our children.
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