Raw milk supporters are increasingly turning to state legislation and alternative ways of obtaining the product, a push that has grown alongside health concerns about illness from unpasteurized dairy, the Associated Press reported. The momentum comes as a recent outbreak tied to raw milk cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm has sickened nine people, about half of them children younger than 5, AP said.
AP found that raw-milk efforts now span multiple states and both major political parties. The news agency said it reviewed legislation in all 50 states with bill-tracking software and identified more than three dozen bills introduced that would make it easier to buy, sell or consume raw milk, with bills introduced in 18 states as of late April.
A key focus of the legislation, according to AP, is whether raw milk can be sold for human consumption—something more than three dozen states already allow. Other proposals, AP said, would instead manage or streamline access in states where direct retail sales remain restricted, including through mechanisms that make raw dairy available outside typical grocery channels.
AP also reported that the raw milk push is being supported by prominent figures and online influencers. The article said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downed shots of raw milk at the White House about a year earlier and previously promised to halt “aggressive suppression” of the product, while AP said social media posts about raw milk have surged in recent months and often promote unproven health benefits.
Federal policymakers are also getting pulled in. AP said a bipartisan bill in the U.S. House would prevent federal departments, agencies or courts from restricting the movement of raw milk between two states where its sale is legal.
Public health officials and researchers, however, say the risks of unpasteurized milk have been documented for years. AP cited government materials from the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning that serious illness can come from bacteria including campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli. A CDC review counted more than 200 outbreaks tied to raw milk between 1998 and 2018, sickening more than 2,600 people and sending 225 to hospitals, AP said.
Children are a central concern for health experts, AP reported. AP said Alex O’Brien, a safety and quality coordinator for the Center for Dairy Research in Madison, Wisconsin, noted children’s immune systems are immature and they drink milk frequently, leaving them more vulnerable to germs found in unpasteurized dairy. The risks extend to adults as well, the report said.
In AP’s reporting, the consequences can be severe. AP described Mari Tardiff of Ashland, Oregon, who was hospitalized for five months after drinking raw milk contaminated with campylobacter in 2008, when doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barré syndrome tied to the infection. AP said Tardiff, now 70, described the aftermath as: “Your whole life is completely blown apart.”
Despite those warnings, AP said some raw milk supporters are increasingly favoring regulation rather than outright bans. AP reported that even people who are gratified by expanding access are pushing for safety guardrails, and it included a Rutgers University food safety expert, Donald Schaffner, who said wider access will probably mean more outbreaks.
AP also included statements from a raw milk farm operator who relies on herd shares. Ben Beichler, of Creambrook Farm in Middlebrook, Virginia, told AP that he and his family drink about a gallon of raw milk every day and said they have strong incentives to keep it safe. He said the farm works with a veterinarian on regular herd checks and uses a multistep safety process that includes sending milk to food safety labs every week to test for common germs.
In AP’s account, the debate over raw milk is therefore becoming less binary, with opponents emphasizing the documented illness risk and some supporters emphasizing tighter rules. AP said officials and critics continue to warn that unpasteurized milk can harbor harmful germs, while raw milk backers argue that if consumers want it, governments should find a way to regulate it and do so safely.