[Closed] Raw milk: will I die?

No!

Or at least it's very unlikely.

Depends how dirty the conditions the cow is kept in.

Open field, I wouldn't worry.

Shitty barn, no thanks.

 will I die?

It is highly likely that you will.

As to raw milk causing it, if you're generally healthy you should be able to cope with a bout of E coli, salmonella, campylobacter or listeria so probably not.

Is there something wrong with pasteurised milk?

Unlikely, but if you do, it will be slow and horrible. Best to stick with black coffee.

From a local farm and it's in a glass bottle.  I'm not healthy but this may help my gut.

I’m not healthy but this may help my gut.

Hmm.. Sceptical...

Depends how dirty the conditions the cow is kept in.

Open field, I wouldn’t worry.

Shitty barn, no thanks.

This..

We have cattle on the Farm, fine in summer months to drink direct from them if you are that way inclined.. but during winter stuck inside barns isn't the cleanest of options TBH.

Raw milk + hot coffee = pasteurized milk + slightly less hot coffee.

Usually drink lactose-free and the price keeps increasing.  Have bought a litre, apparently in the Summer they sell cream.  Also sell eggs and meat.

I grew up on it.  think I'm ok.

Still full of lactose though no?

You'll be fine. In-laws sold it on the milk round for years.  It does taste different when the cows are indoors - different feed.

The dairy round the corner from me and have been selling raw milk for a couple of years.. people come from miles away! Going back to full-fat took a bit of getting used to, but no noticeable ill-effects.

It can cause issues if your immune system isn't fully-functional. Lots of information about the risks, hygiene standards etc. here.

local farm round here sells it from a vending machine, no reports of death

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/thats-right-lincolnshire-very-raw-335756

Assuming it is full of lactose so, yes, good point and will be interesting to see whether all that fat and rawness changes anything.

Yes, this farm is popular and also has a vending machine to dispense.  It comes in plastic bottles but you can buy or bring your own glass bottle.  Not really considering this any riskier than shop-bought milk and the proper test will be in the morning with my porridge.

Pasteurisation is just heating it up though isn't it?  As said above, by putting it in hot coffee or porridge you're pasteurising it yourself anyway.

More fat though - that is a good thing I'd imagine, because the fat will fill you up more for longer.  But that's another fish park.

Study on raw milk in lactose intolerance here found no difference between that and raw milk:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3948760/

Thanks for the link molgrips and shall have a read.  A very speedy look and saw that they were drinking a large daily amount.  Had assumed that the result of drinking skimmed milk for decades was lactose intolerance but actually it turned out not to be.  Added to which my daughter can only drink lactose-free milk otherwise she suffers.  The lactose-free milk I've been drinking for a good few years now is semi-skimmed so, for me anyway, having fat helps with digestive issues.  Yes, our bodies do need fat but unfortunately many years ago the public were told low fat.

All interesting stuff!

brought up on dairy farm drank 'raw' milk every day for years, no ill affects 😉

Raw just means unpasteurized. But the much bigger difference is that it's almost certainly un-homogenized. In my view, homogenization has more of an impact than pasteurization. Though i have no science to back that up.

I have been having raw milk for years. The place that supplies it should adhere to very high standards. Ours does.

The reason for pasteurisation is to deal with the shit standards employed by mass farming. So not a bad thing.

The pasteurisation process destroys certain good bacteria, and to me reduces the texture in flavour.

Also Raw milk comes straight from the dairy by law so it's nice to pay the farmer direct.

Tin Soldier avec PP Arnold:

Raw just means unpasteurized. But the much bigger difference is that it’s almost certainly un-homogenized. In my view, homogenization has more of an impact than pasteurization. Though i have no science to back that up.

You've hit in an interesting point. When I was suffering from colitis I was told to avoid homogenization as it was not as good for your gut - something to do with the fat molecule size.

From memory there has been research done into this but it was a long time ago I looked.

Waitrose Duchy Original milk is both organic and un-homogenised.

He said you want it pasteurised?
'Cos pasteurised is best.
She said, "Ernie I'll be happy if it comes up to me chest."

Have you had your TB jab ?

Goat Kefir FTW.

https://www.chucklinggoat.co.uk/product/live-goats-milk-kefir/

I've removed as much cow dairy from my diet and replaced with goat products and my psoriasis is no more.

As for the kefir, I haven't tried it yet, so can't comment as to it's effectiveness for the healing you seek.

HTH

Is there something wrong with pasteurised milk?

Yeah. It’s tasteless and has no cream on the top. If I could easily get raw milk I’d drink nothing else. I’ve had it many many times over the years, as a kid my best mates dad was a dairy farmer. Straight out of the cow, through a filter, into a vat, big jug, bingo!

i had some recently too -big glass full - After getting used to modern semi skimmed it would need taste buds adjusting, but it was sooooooo creamy. 😀

Is there something wrong with pasteurised milk?

Yeah. It’s tasteless and has no cream on the top.

That's homogenized milk, innit?

If you're really unlucky, you'll get Brucellosis

Lived in very rural farming village in north nottinghamshire for about 15 years; farming neighbour only drank 'green milk' as he had since childhood with no obvious problems.

He was graddy, captained the '3 counties' RU team, successful and profitable farmer.

As for the taste of milk.......no idea.

If you are concerned about milk is it not easier just to give it up?

I avoid milk these days.

A few years ago a mate of mine suggested it might help my constantly snotty sinuses. He had noticed his were much better after he had to give up milk as part of his MS treatment. I gave it a shot and noticed a definite improvement (anecdotal. Sample size 2 😛)

I’m not dairy-free by any means. I still eat cheese and butter and products containing milk powder etc (which is really hard to avoid!).

I mostly just switched to black coffee, stopped drinking milk and stopped having milk on cereal. It is no particular hardship and I feel better for it. (yes, could be placebo. Who knows)

Or just have double cream in coffee. Quite nice when you get used to it.

I'm pretty sure pasteurisation doesn't affect the flavour. It kills bacteria and nothing more. And back in the day when I were a lad the pasteurised full fat milk our milkman used to deliver had a nice creamy top on it - so again, pasteurisation has nothing to do with the lack of creamy head. Now my gran used to get sterilised milk and that was rank. Bt then again she used tracing paper toilet paper so was a bit bonkers.

Full fat raw milk is delicious, but us consumers want our cake and eat it and like to buy cheap milk - often imported, and like it to last in the fridge for a week before going off so we don't have to keep popping out to the shops for milk, so pasteurisation helps increase the life of the milk as all those pesky bacteria the pasturisation process gets rid of have a habit of multiplying.

Dairy is bad for your gut

Yeah I read that on the internet too!

American website, but interesting to read non the less... (note that Americans prefer the word real to raw).

https://www.realmilk.com/

From Wikipedia:

Milk is an excellent medium for microbial growth,[14] and when stored at ambient temperature bacteria and other pathogens soon proliferate.[15]

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says improperly handled raw milk is responsible for nearly three times more hospitalizations than any other food-borne disease source, making it one of the world's most dangerous food products.[16][17] Diseases prevented by pasteurization can include tuberculosis, brucellosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and Q-fever; it also kills the harmful bacteria Salmonella, Listeria, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli O157:H7,[18][19] among others.

That’s just what Big Dairy want you to think... or something. 😀

Besides the world has had enough of experts telling us what to do. If I want to wash down my raw chicken with raw milk then that’s my business.

Besides the world has had enough of experts telling us what to do. If I want to wash down my raw chicken with raw milk then that’s my business.

This Pasteur chap sounds a bit French. I'm taking back control of my milk.

No you will not die.

Many things go on with commercial milk,

1) It's put in a bulk tank with milk from many cows. That bulk tank is put into a tanker with milk from other farms and transported to a dairy where it is mixed with milk from other tankers.

So your pint of milk does not come from one cow.

2) Milk is pasteurised (heated to a high temperature for a short period to kill bacteria and stop it going off during the process above, This is why they can do the process above and sell milk with a shelf-life of several weeks. Pasteurisation affects the flavour through a mass of chemical reactions (maynards, caramelisation etc). This is not a bad thing but not necessary if you get milk straight from a good farm which cares about your raw milk.

3) Milk fat is taken for things like yoghurt making, cheese and other stuff. This affects the flavour because most of the flavour is in the fat.

4) The milk is homegenised. This is where it is forced through a very small gap to break up the fat globules. This affects the flavour because most of the flavour is in the fat. This is also why milk no longer has a head of fat when it sits (see #3) and also why it has a shelf-life of several weeks. Also has a massive impact on getting a decent head on a cappucino.

Many things affect the flavour:

- the species (goat versus sheep versus cow versus human -not just the fat but the casein (milk protein and other things too.)

- time of year (mainly due to diet)

- phase of lactation (but you rarely drink milk from one animal. Kangaroos are fascinating in this regard)

- how it's been treated.

None of the above will have much affect on lactose levels but may affect if you can drink milk if you have an allergic intolerance.

What was the question?

will I die?

Inevitably. In fact, it’s a dead certainty.