Raw Milk: Is it safe?

The Subconscious Fatty History of Raw Milk

Mr. Skeptical starts commenting before I write. “Raw milk is not safe because it’s not legal in every state. I imagine raw milk harbors bacteria and other germs that make people sick.”

“Any food can harbor bacteria that makes people sick.”

Mr. Skeptical folds his arms and looks at me with his eyes and mouth demonstrating skepticism. “I suppose you’re a fan of raw milk because you drink it.”

“I am a fan. I believe getting rid of raw milk for the American public was akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. To really understand why raw milk is outlawed in many states, we must go back to the War of 1812.”

Mr. Skeptical’s eyes widen. “What does the United States fighting the British Empire back in 1812 have to do with raw milk?”

“A lot. There’s much Subconscious Fat to uncover here.”

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Subconscious Fat at 30,000 feet

The War of 1812 cut off the supply of whiskey from the British West Indies, so the domestic whiskey industry was born. Soon you had whiskey distilleries all over the country and near major cities. Back then, everyone drank raw milk, vital for pregnant women and growing children.

Mr. Skeptical adds, “Americans couldn’t live without whiskey.”

“Nope, they couldn’t. To make whiskey, one must extract starch and alcohol from grain. This involves fermenting and distilling and creates an acid refuse of grain called distillery slop.”

“Distillery slop doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. Yet, they had a lot of it left over. Some enterprising individuals realized that the leftover acidic slop can be fed to cows. At first, cows would refuse to eat it, but when they got hungry enough, they would.”

“This must have been bad for the cow.”

“It was awful for the cows. They became emancipated and sick, yet it still allowed them to produce much milk.”

“Good quality milk?”

“No. Horrible quality. In the book, The Untold Story of Milk it describes the milk from distillery slop-fed cows:

The milk was so defective in the properties essential to good milk that it could not be made into butter or cheese; it was good for nothing–except to sell. And sell it the owners did.

Subconscious Fat at 10,000 feet

What ended up happening was predictable. Childhood mortality rates started to skyrocket. Below is a graph of childhood mortality rates in New York City.

Look at the rise in 1850 of childhood mortality rates. At the same time, childhood mortality rates were going down in Europe. Europeans tended to drink beer more, and the side waste of beer was fed to cows, but it wasn’t as bad as American-made whiskey distillery slop. The milk from whiskey slop had a blueish color to it. Sellers of swill milk would put chalk in it, making it look whiter to sell it.

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Subconscious Fat at Eye-Level

Mr. Skeptical adds, “Now, wait a second. You mentioned in the last post about your own life, how hindsight vision is always perfect. Why didn’t Americans back in the 1800s realize that swill milk was causing so much death?”

“Because if a child drinks swill milk, his immune system will plummet, so the child will likely get smallpox or tuberculosis, and the death would be attributed to the disease. When in reality, the child died due to insufficient nutrition. The infant mortality rate was blamed on other things. Some doctors tried to warn the public about swill milk, but then the swill distilleries would fight back, with their doctors saying the cause was something else.

“All the childhood deaths eventually led the government to step in. Pasteurization heats the milk to kill germs.”

“That seems like a good idea since so many children were dying.”

“Yes, many thought so too. However, heating milk (pasteurization) destroys some of the healthy and beneficial enzymes your body needs. As with many things, there’s a price to pay.”

“But with so many children dying, something had to be done.”

“True. But it was overdone. With the advent of refrigeration, and pasteurized milk, small farmers got bought out by larger milk companies. Greed took over. Large dairy corporations used the profits to pay off politicians, forcing all milk to be pasteurized, making it look like the only solution. But in reality, it was simply good business for the larger milk companies.

Below is a link to a 30-second video where I show how raw milk has a layer of fat above it. And how removing that layer helped large dairy companies sell more milk.

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A post shared by @hermanndiehl

Practical Suggestions and Conclusions

You adapt to what you eat! If a cow is fed lousy food, its products will make humans sick. This includes the meat and milk produced. This is why grass-fed and grass-finished beef is better; the same is true with milk.

Humans have drunk raw milk for thousands of years. Pasteurization is not needed when the source of raw milk is good.

Mr. Skeptical gets up and yells, “That’s your opinion!”

“Of course. It’s my opinion. Take a chill pill, will you.”

What an idiot. I am lactose intolerant. If I drink pasteurized milk, I must soon run to the bathroom, feeling terrible for a few hours, yet I can drink raw milk. I made a not-so-great 1 minute 24-second video of me drinking raw milk for the first time. See that link here.

If you drink milk, decide whether it’s pasteurized or raw. If it’s raw, find a local farmer with healthy cows. You will pay more, but it’s worth it. As Americans, we should have the choice to buy milk raw or pasteurized. And not be forced to buy pasteurized milk because raw milk is illegal.

Be aware.

PS Links in Facebook and Instagram. Full disclosure: Chat GPT was used to research and enhance this post.

PSS Grill master Jorge Olivieri and I will host a Miami Argentinian Barbecue Event with grass-fed and finished beef at Gaucho Ranch in Miami on Saturday, April 27th at 7 PM. See the link here for details.