Backers of raw milk are pushing to make unpasteurized dairy products more widely available and easier to obtain in the United States, even as public health officials warn that raw milk can harbor potentially deadly germs. The pressure is accelerating in statehouses nationwide, where legislation aimed at expanding or streamlining access to raw milk has surged as outbreaks continue to affect children and other consumers.
The latest concern involves a recent outbreak tied to raw milk cheddar cheese from a California-based operation, Raw Farm. Health officials said nine people became sick, including children younger than 5, and at least one victim developed a serious complication that can impair kidney function for life.
Scientists and health advocates have long warned that raw milk can contain bacteria that pasteurization helps prevent. Pasteurization kills germs by heating milk, commonly to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (71.7 degrees Celsius) for at least 15 seconds, and experts say it does not significantly impact milk’s nutritional quality while helping save people from foodborne illness.
At least one biology professor has questioned the appeal of consuming raw milk and raw dairy products. Petra Anne Levin, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said she does not understand why people drink raw milk when they would not lick a cow’s underside, adding that there is a reason pasteurization is used.
Proponents argue that consumers want access, and they say regulation should focus on giving people a choice rather than restricting availability. Mary McGonigle-Martin, co-chair of Stop Foodborne Illness, said, “People want access,” adding that “Public health has lost the battle on raw milk.”
Across the country, bills supporting raw milk are being introduced in state legislatures during the current session in a mix of states with both Democratic and Republican control. The Associated Press said it found more than three dozen such bills in statehouses, and that more than 40 bills introduced as of late April would make it easier to buy, sell or consume raw milk. Some proposals would create new pathways for selling raw milk for human consumption, while others aim to manage existing legal sales.
In New Jersey, for example, a bill in the state Senate would establish a raw milk permitting program. The measure’s Republican sponsor, state Sen. Michael Testa, said, “You can buy cigarettes. You can buy alcohol. You can buy quote-unquote legalized marijuana,” and asked why someone could not consume raw milk, while others caution that wider access could mean more outbreaks, according to Donald Schaffner, a food science professor at Rutgers University.
Other state proposals focus on how and where raw products can be sold. In Iowa, a bill advancing in the House would make it easier for farmers to sell unpasteurized products at farm stores by allowing them to be sold alongside foods such as meat. The bill’s Republican sponsor, state Rep. Chad Ingels, said he had been opposed to legalizing raw milk because of safety concerns but said, “But it’s law now, and I’m very pro-local foods,” adding that it made sense for farm businesses to sell all their products in one location.
In Missouri, two bills would allow unpasteurized dairy products to be sold in grocery stores, farmers’ markets or similar settings, provided the products include labeling that warns about the potential for harmful bacteria and requires testing of herds. Republican state Rep. Bryant Wolfin, who sponsored one bill, said, “We just want to make it more accessible, so that way, people have the freedom of choice.”
Several state measures also define “retail raw milk or cream” by referencing standards tied to the Raw Milk Institute, a California-based organization. The institute’s mission is described as improving safety and quality, and lawmakers in Missouri said it is used as a benchmark for how raw milk products should be handled. Schaffner, however, said the organization focuses more on advocacy than risk management and pointed to Raw Farm being linked to numerous outbreaks.
Beyond state laws, federal action is also being considered. The Associated Press reported that a bipartisan bill in the U.S. House, called the Interstate Milk Freedom Act, would prevent federal departments, agencies or courts from restricting the movement of raw milk between two states where its sale is legal. The bill was introduced in March by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree, and federal experts said the FDA could potentially revoke any ban on interstate sales or pursue national standards, though FDA officials did not respond to questions about whether such steps are likely.
Health risks tied to raw milk are widely documented, with federal agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointing to hazards such as campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli. A CDC review counted more than 200 outbreaks associated with raw milk that sickened more than 2,600 people and sent 225 to hospitals between 1998 and 2018. Another analysis cited in the reporting found that raw dairy products caused far more illness and far more hospitalizations than their pasteurized counterparts, and public health officials said children are especially vulnerable because their immune systems are still developing.
For advocates, the debate is also personal and practical. Martin, a consumer advocate whose reporting dates to years of warning about illness from raw milk, said some consumers struggle to understand the danger, describing it as something that can feel too rare to happen. Her account includes her son nearly dying in 2006 after drinking raw milk contaminated with E. coli, and she has continued working to raise awareness. Another example described by the report involved Mari Tardiff of Ashland, Oregon, who was hospitalized after drinking raw milk contaminated with campylobacter and was later diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a complication attributed to the infection.
Raw milk backers say the products can still be safe when handled carefully and tested. Ben Beichler, who runs Creambrook Farm in Virginia and relies on herd shares, said the way public and political perceptions have shifted over time has been “quite exciting,” and he said safety is central to his operation, including regular herd checks, weekly milk testing and lab sampling. Tony Huffstutter, who described testing milk daily for bacteria at his Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy in Missouri, said, “You can’t just go out there, throw a bucket under the cow and start milking it,” arguing that there are steps involved in doing it correctly.
Advocates and critics alike increasingly call for some form of regulation. Martin said the best option might be for the FDA to regulate raw milk as strictly as pasteurized dairy, while McAfee, the owner of Raw Farm, said “High standards and testing should be part of that.” Schaffner said he favors regulation as well, and compared the debate over adults’ choice to legalization efforts for other products, while reiterating that pasteurization remains the dependable method for making raw milk safe.