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CDC finds raw milk disproportionally responsible for illnesses

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds raw milk is proportionally responsible for 150-times more disease outbreaks than pasteurized milk. In states where raw milk sales are legal, the outbreaks occur twice as much as in states where it is not legal.

The data was collected from 1993 through 2006. In those 14 years, a total 2.7 trillion pounds of milk were consumed of which 1 percent was nonpasteurized. During that time there were 121 disease outbreaks related to dairy products causing 4,413 illnesses, 239 hospitalizations and three deaths. 73 of the outbreaks (60%) and 202 of the hospitalizations (83%) were attributed to raw milk products. Three-quarters of raw milk-related outbreaks (55) occurred in states where sales of raw milk and raw milk products were legal at the time.

The study also found 60 percent of the people made ill by raw milk products were under age 20 while 23 percent of those suffering illness attributed to pasteurized milk were under age 20.

The report, published in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Disease Journal on Tuesday states:

In summary foodborne outbreaks involving dairy products continue to be a public health problem in the United States, and this problem is disproportionately attributable to nonpasteurized dairy products. Pasteurization is the most reliable and feasible way to render dairy products safe for consumption. Although warning labels and signs or government-issued permits are prudent where the sale of nonpasteurized dairy products is legal, they have not been shown to be effective and, given the results of this analysis, do not seem to reduce the incidence of outbreaks involving nonpasteurized dairy products to the degree that pasteurization does.