In the 1860s, French scientist Louis Pasteur developed the process later named for him that made certain foods like milk safe to consume. Before pasteurization, one in four foodborne illnesses came from dairy. After pasteurization, bacteria, viruses, pathogens, et al. are eliminated or rendered useless, thus removing the risk of death and disease. So naturally, Trump’s nominee to direct the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is against it. RFK Jr. prefers drinking unpasteurized milk, often called raw milk. Not every state allows the retail sale of raw milk, and there’s a federal ban of its sale across state lines. California, the largest dairy producer in the country, does allow for the sale of raw milk, and has had over 500 herds infected with H5N1 bird flu virus. One such infected CA herd includes Raw Farm, RFK Jr.’s brand of choice. Their products are being recalled, and the CEO is predictably unhinged about the government infringing on people’s right to drink milk… contaminated with bird flu.

Raw Farm products have been recalled, the CEO is not handling it well: Last week, California public health officials announced a voluntary recall by Raw Farm LLC after detecting the [H5N1] virus in raw milk and cream at company bottling and storage sites. … Still, Raw Farm CEO and founder Mark McAfee questioned why California officials were asking him to pull his products from shelves, saying they were over-reacting since no one has yet gotten sick. “That’s because this is just the latest convenient platform to attack legal raw milk in California!” he wrote in an email to USA TODAY. “Protect consumers from what???”

There are no proven health benefits to raw milk: There’s little scientific evidence to support these [pro-raw milk] claims, said John Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research and a food science professor. “The short answer is no, there are no proven benefits,” he told USA TODAY. “You are being conned with these claims,” he said. “This is snake oil.” … Before pasteurization, people routinely were sickened and died from drinking raw milk, catching diseases like tuberculosis, and raw milk is still far more likely than pasteurized milk to contain bacteria like salmonella, E. coli and listeria. “I don’t have any time for farmers who want to put other people at risk for products they make on their farm, knowingly,” said Lucey, who grew up on a dairy farm.

More diseases linked to Raw Farm: In 2023 and 2024, more than 100 people fell ill from salmonella linked to raw milk from Raw Farm, the same company now at the center of raw milk recalls for bird flu. At least seven people were hospitalized, and 40% of cases were in children. … In a July 11 blog post, Raw Farm called the investigation the result of a “corrupt, biased agenda” including from the Food and Drug Administration and the media. “This is just the most recent of a long history of dirty tricks,” the post said. “If you see concerning and questionable headlines, please be very clear we are in a war zone with a corrupt system that hates raw milk.” Before that, the company’s products were linked to several outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter, according to the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research.

The dirt on germs in raw milk: Bacteria and viruses that can make people sick are found throughout farms. Bacteria like E. coli are present in poop or in the dirt, so cows can lie down and get contaminated material on their udders, said Dr. Meghan Davis, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Typically, the milking process has standards to wipe down udders and equipment before milking begins. But some bacteria can remain and contaminate the milk. Pasteurization kills these pathogens, but they can persist in raw milk.

[From USA Today]

“Protect consumers from what???” Oh nothing, just diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, fever, or death. So if you’re like Mark Renton from Trainspotting and prefer to choose life, stick to tried and true pasteurized dairy. And don’t worry about Raw Food CEO Mark McAfee’s prospects: not only is raw milk fan RFK Jr. the nominee to run HHS, but he’s already invited McAfee to apply for a position at the FDA. RFK Jr. — the man whom 77 Nobel laureate scientists are begging the Senate to not confirm, and whose brain was an inhospitable living environment for a worm — tapping the farmer whose unsanitary working practices have led to cases of bird flu, salmonella, E. coli, and campylobacter, to work at the Food and Drug Administration. I’d be laughing at the farcical elements here — like McAfee deliriously ranting “we are in a war zone with a corrupt system that hates raw milk!” — if these preachings weren’t also so potentially lethal.

Photo credit: IMAGO/hoo-me.com/MediaPunch/Avalon and via Instagram/RFK Jr. and Raw Farm