GOT RAW GOAT MILK?
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any Americans are shopping at farmers market, buying organic foods, joining food cooperatives and raising animals for food and milk. Be aware - Drinking raw milk or eating foods made with raw milk has certain risks and may cause serious illness.
Know the Facts Before You Indulge What are the Risks? Raw milk may contain harmful bacteria and other germs that can make you very sick. Getting sick from raw milk can mean many days of diarrhea, stomach cramping, vomiting, and may even cause miscarriages. You may also develop life threatening diseases that can result in paralysis, kidney failure or death.
Can drinking raw milk hurt me or my family? Yes. Raw milk and raw milk products, including soft cheeses, ice cream, and yogurt, can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and other germs that can cause serious illnesses, hospitalization, or death.
What about milk from grass-fed goats. Is that raw milk safe? Who is at Risk? No. Raw milk from either grass fed or We are all at risk. However, the risk grain fed animals may contain harmful is greater for infants, young children, bacteria or germs. There is always a older adults, pregnant women, and chance the milk is not safe. people with weakened immune systems such as those who are sick. How can I Avoid Getting Sick? Simple. You can decrease your chances by drinking or using only pasteurized milk or eating products made with pasteurized milk.
Why do some people drink raw milk for years and never got sick? Those people have been very lucky. We cannot predict the germs in milk. For that reason it is better to be safe than sorry.
What does it mean when milk is pasteurized? Pasteurized milk has been treated by heating to a very high temperature for a long time to kill bacteria. Some of these bacteria (e.g., E. coli, Salmonella) are naturally found in Is it legal to buy or sell raw milk? milk, while others may get into the The law varies by state. In Texas, it milk during handling and processing. is legal to sell raw milk, but only on Pasteurization makes it safe to drink the farms where the milk is produced. or use the milk. Farmers are not allowed to deliver raw milk to be sold in stores or at farmers Does pasteurized milk have the markets. same benefits as raw milk? Only a small amount of nutrients are reduced when milk is pasteurized. Most of the nutritional benefits are still available. Some enzymes are destroyed during the pasteurization process, and some nutrients are reduced. However, you can get the nutrients that are reduced from other foods in the diet.
References https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-index.html https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/types/milk/index.html https://milk.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005192
This institution is an equal opportunity provider. This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 1890 Extension Formula Program projects under Section 1444
This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 1890 Extension Formula/Evans-Allen 1890 Research Formula Program projects under Section 1444 and Section 1445.
FACT SHEET PRODUCED BY AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION Sharon McWhinney, PhD., RD., Professor Reviewed by: Jennifer Garza, Ph.D.,Program Specialist June 2018