When I was first introduced to the benefits of raw milk nearly 20 years ago, I was newly pregnant with my second child. While I wanted to reap the benefits of this nutrient dense food, I was initially cautious to begin consuming it for fear it might harm my baby.
Everywhere I turned for research and information about the safety of raw milk during pregnancy was negative.
Numerous citations and sources I reviewed warned against consuming raw milk during pregnancy due to the risk of infection with Listeria monocytogenes, a deadly pathogen that can cause fetal death or premature birth.
While the research I uncovered contained dire warnings about infection with Listeria during pregnancy, I couldn’t actually find documentation about anyone who had actually contracted it from drinking raw milk let alone died or miscarried from it!
After much reading and thought, I concluded that the warnings against raw milk were unwarranted and the nutritional benefits to myself and my child vastly outweighed any risk.
I began to consume raw milk along with aged raw cheese, raw cream and raw butter late in the first trimester of my second pregnancy. I continued this practice throughout my second and third pregnancy with no ill effects. Both children were born healthy, full term and a normal weight.
Why Does the FDA Warn Against Raw Milk During Pregnancy?
In the 12 years since I began consuming raw milk while newly pregnant, the nonexistence of infection with Listeria monocytogenes for raw milk drinkers has continued. Analysis of Centers for Disease Control data on raw milk outbreaks listed no cases whatsoever of food-borne illness from raw milk caused by Listeria during the entire 13 year period from 1993-2005.
On the other hand, there have been hundreds of illnesses from Listeria contracted from eating deli meats according to a 2003 USDA/FDA report.
In addition, 147 people across 28 states contracted listeriosis in 2011 from cantaloupes. 33 people died as a result of this outbreak and 1 pregnant woman miscarried.
Even pasteurized milk and cheese carries the very real risk of listeriosis. From 1998-2012, there were 50 illnesses and 10 deaths (1 fetus) from Listeria contracted from consuming pasteurized milk and cheese in the United States.
Are formal warnings issued to pregnant women regarding the dangers of eating deli meats, pasteurized milk and cheese or cantaloupes while pregnant?
No.
The FDA clearly has a double standard when it warns against consumption of raw milk during pregnancy when no cases or deaths of listeriosis are recorded and yet many have occurred for other foods.
The Dairy That Should be Avoided During Pregnancy
A very real risk of Listeria during pregnancy comes from soft, unaged cheese – both raw and pasteurized.
In Europe, there were 4 deaths from pasteurized soft cheese in 2009. There have also been a number of illnesses and miscarriages from Mexican style cheese made from raw milk including a few in my home state of Florida. This cheese is sometimes referred to as “bathtub cheese”.
If you are pregnant, it is wise to avoid soft, unaged cheeses of all kinds due to the very real risk of Listeria. However, grassfed, raw milk is safe as are aged raw cheeses, raw cream, and raw butter.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources:
Those Pathogens, What You Should Know
Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Whole Cantaloupes
The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care
Zero Deaths from Raw Milk, Health Impact News
where would you even find Raw Milk? I’ve NEVER seen it offered any place I shop in Chicago…
If you look around online, you will find several sources for raw milk in the Chicago area. It’s not sole in stores. Look here: http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder/illinois/#il
Campylobacter is something I’ve experienced along with several other people at a local milk buying club in Wisconsin. The milk was tested by the health dept. who shut down the farmer’s livelihood. The thing is, the milk never had any trace of Campylobacter. I understand that it was found in the feces of the cows. I would like to drink raw milk again but feel very strongly that the dairy operation must be strict with policies regarding how and what comes into contact with the buyers. I wouldn’t want to go through that illness again and in some ways I feel that my health has been comprised ever since and that I’m still on the road back to good digestive health.
Me too.
Me three. By both an OB and a midwife.
I appreciate the thought behind this but wanted to give my experience. We started drinking raw milk when I was pregnant w/ my 4th (in Canada). Loved the taste but then the horrible diarrhea hit, and wouldn’t go away. I went and got tested out of Listeria fears and it ended up being campylobacter. I was on antibiotics almost a month cuz the first one they gave me didn’t touch it. So as was said, please be aware that raw milk and deli foods can make you sick. My supplier wouldn’t sell me any more raw milk but I would have kept buying it, and just cooked it into eggnog. 🙂
We cannot live risk free lives and at all times are subject to countless possible infections, accidents etc. Its about weighing up risk. Sure you can get sick from unpasteurised milk as you can from any contaminated food but in my opinion the risks have been blown out of all proportion. If as much (warranted) warning was given about over the counter medicines, foods containing Aspartamine and other toxic substances, carcinogenic household cleaning products, chemical cocktails on our vegetables and drugs in meat, the Nation would be in a constant state of hysteria. I manufacture a skin care product that we went to extraordinary lengths to make safe, natural and life enhancing but we are treated by the FDA in a similar way to raw milk, while products made by people who seemingly dont care about their customers or the environment are the acceptable norm.
I was warned against eating deli meat by my doctor when I was pregnant with my second daughter, but not pasteurized milk or cantaloupe. I drink only raw milk now 🙂
I’m S0000000 craving raw milk. used to drink it all the time before moving back stateside. its SO MUCH BETTER TASTING!!!
There are many other bacterial risks besides Listeria, though. I understand that you are a big fan of it and has been a safe and nutritional benefit for you and your family. I drank raw for 7 yrs until my entire family got very very sick from a campylobacter infection last January. It can and does happen. Actually way more often than I was told from online sites, blogs, and other natural healthy mamas. After calling the dept of health, I realized the risk is so much higher than I was made to believe. The overwhelming majority of similar infections in our state of PA over the past 20 yrs were linked to raw milk contaminations – 4-5 various bacterias including our horrid campylobacter. I felt so terrible – being in the worst pain I’ve ever experienced my whole life while watching my 2 and 5 yo in the same agony. We suffered. And I mean that. For ten days. Back and forth from toilet to bed every 15 min, 24 hrs a day, nonstop and involuntary, with no treatment, while we shot way more blood and tissue out of our bodies than seemed possible. Couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to go through that again. I could say a lot more, but just want to share the jist of my story. I hope you allow it to stay published along with all the other comments. I don’t argue with anyone nor judge. It is a reality I share when given the chance or I’m asked, and one I would never ever personally risk again, no matter how small the chances. Once you experience that kind of illness, not knowing if you and your children were in fact dying or going to eventually recover…changes your perspective a bit. And I realize now that different people have different ideas on what is “rare”. But no matter, because when it happens to you, it’s no longer any kind of rare. Best…
Lori, I’m not saying you can’t get sick from raw milk. Yes you can. But look at the data. No one has died from it including unborn babies. More fetuses have died from their mothers eating cantaloupe and pasteurized milk than raw milk.
Any food could make you sick. The data and facts are that raw milk is safer than most any other food including pasteurized milk.
My family have all had Campylobacter too (not from raw milk .. from a restaurant). It’s all about assessing risks and probabilities. The risk of illness let alone death from raw milk is slim to none compared with other foods.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/campylobacter-cases-from-pa-raw-milk-outbreak-reach-80/#.UbYyZZxUGSo
Funny how it doesn’t make big news when campy outbreaks hits the fast food joints. Again, the double standard against raw milk because it threatens the Big Dairy monopoly. I got a horrible salmonella infection from fast food chicken when I was 13 (have a blog post on this). I got campylobacter from another restaurant a few years ago. Never got anything from raw milk in over 12 years and been drinking it from various farms all over the country. Risk versus benefits. Raw milk is safe and the risks are very small. The CDC data tells the tale. ZERO deaths from raw milk.
Or Huffington Post… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/raw-milk-outbreak-campylobacter-148-sickened_n_3223199.html
And, like it points out, there might be more cases linked to other foods, yes. That’s because many millions more people consume those foods than raw milk. Such a small percentage drink raw, it’s unsettling to me that each year so many people get very sick. And those numbers are very un and under reported. It is totally drink at your own risk, and yes, you probably won’t die. But I am glad everyday that I didn’t drop off milk for one of my clients 26 wks pregnant with twins that week we bought our contaminated milk. I would have never forgiven myself. No matter how rare it would have been.
Campylobacter outbreaks occur all the time … mostly from restaurant food (employees not washing hands). Campy is very rare in raw milk and is not going to kill your baby or you. While it is serious, it is not a reason to avoid the nourishment of grassfed raw milk. Again, weight risks versus benefits. The benefits far outweigh the risks. The risks of campylobacter from a restaurant is far higher .. I don’t see pregnant women eating only at home for the 9 months of pregnancy.
Hi Sarah,
I find it concerning that you seem to have chosen not to include my posting about how so many cases went unreported during the outbreak last year and why it’s so easy for that to happen. Among the other comments that were included in that post. I don’t intend to open your mind to the reality my family faced as a result of being misled to believe it is so rare, but there are other readers. And they deserve to read all sides. Is your only purpose to promote the WAP diet or something? Maybe I am too naive for today’s world!
And I’m sorry, but If I had been pregnant, I absolutely would have had my baby. And I am so grateful my client with 26 wk twins did not consume the milk that week. Those babies she spent 4 years working for probably wouldn’t have made it or they would have very different lives. I know we only have our own experiences to compare things to and I can’t adequately describe what happened to my body in those two wks. But I assure you, my body would not have been able to sustain a pregnancy/baby. I am no dummy in that arena. I spend most of my time with and caring for pregnant and laboring moms. These things can and do happen whether reported in full or not, and it is absolutely more risky than drinking milk that has been pasteurized. I am sad I can’t have it both ways, believe me. The benefits are great, as with eating most things unheated are. But holy heck, from someone who went the illness you couldn’t pay me any amount of money to do again, I urge you to at least include all of my story and perspective. Follow it up with whatever you want, but at least include it to be fair to your readers, especially the more cautious pregnant ones – The ones who want ALL the information and may only be getting some. I understand if you don’t post this or my other that maybe that’s your point.
Thanks,
Lori
Hi Sarah,
I’ve become a big fan of raw milk since becoming pregnant and doing a lot of research about nutrition. I drink it knowing the risks. However, I feel it’s a little misleading to compare illnesses and deaths from raw milk with that from entirely different foods. I understand the point you’re trying to make, but it’s really not a question of whether we drink raw milk OR eat beef. It’s a question of whether we drink raw OR pasteurised milk. You’ve just said that raw milk is safer than pasteurised milk, but according to a CDC report covering the period from 1993-2006 there were 46 outbreaks of disease attributed to raw milk and only 10 attributed to pasteurised milk. (http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/nonpasteurized-outbreaks.html) Given the relatively small number of people who drink raw milk, this report indicates you are far more likely to become sick from raw milk than from pasteurised milk. I have no idea where the raw milk responsible for the outbreaks came from (I know you have to be careful where you source it from) and I doubt the report provides that kind of detail, but if these figures are accurate then it makes your posts misleading at best. Like you, I’m all for raw dairy products. The reason I say all this is because I’m also for informed choice, which requires comparing apples with apples.
I really enjoy reading your blog.
Kind regards,
Rachel
It’s interesting to note the CDC cut off the time period at 2006 to avoid including a major outbreak of illness and three deaths due to pasteurized dairy in 2007.
Excerpt from this article:http://www.westonaprice.org/press/cdc-cherry-picks-data-to-make-case-against-raw-milk
“According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, the CDC has manipulated and cherry picked this data to make raw milk look dangerous and to dismiss the same dangers associated with pasteurized milk.
“What consumers need to realize, first of all,” said Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, “is that the incidence of foodborne illnesses from dairy products, whether pasteurized or not, is extremely low. For the 14-year period that the authors examined, there was an average of 315 illnesses a year from all dairy products for which the pasteurization status was known. Of those, there was an average of 112 illnesses each year attributed to all raw dairy products and 203 associated with pasteurized dairy products.
“In comparison, there are almost 24,000 foodborne illnesses reported each year on average. Whether pasteurized or not, dairy products are simply not a high risk product.”
Because the incidence of illness from dairy products is so low, the authors’ choice of the time period for the study affected the results significantly, yet their decision to stop the analysis with the year 2006 was not explained. The CDC’s data shows that there were significant outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to pasteurized dairy products the very next year, in 2007: 135 people became ill from pasteurized cheese contaminated with e. coli, and three people died from pasteurized milk contaminated with listeria (wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/Default.aspx).
Outbreaks from pasteurized dairy were also a significant problem in the 1980s…” (See link at top to read the rest.)
You might see if you can get your hands on a copy of Raw Milk Revolution. These CDC stats are actually, themselves, misleading. An “outbreak” is very loosely defined. I can’t remember if it’s any time someone gets sick from a food or any time more than one person does, but it’s 1-2+ people, like that. What isn’t shown here is the NUMBERS of people who got sick. So the CDC will sometimes say that (for instance – I’m making up these numbers) there were 40 outbreaks of illness related to raw milk and 10 related to pasteurized milk, but what they don’t say is that that was a total of 42 people who drank the raw milk (out of hundreds who had the same milk as the people who got sick), but 1,000 people who got sick from the pasteurized milk.
Also, they often don’t bother to verify that raw milk actually was the CAUSE of a food-borne illness. If someone who drinks raw milk comes down with something that CAN be carried by raw milk, it is assumed it was the milk and no one investigates anything else they ate.
But more significantly, in my opinion, is the fact that we are told, either explicitly or implicitly, that pasteurized milk is SAFE. That is, that raw milk is inherently dangerous and we should, therefore, drink pasteurized, which has had all risk removed. But A) raw milk is no riskier than dozens of other normal foods. (Which is the point of this blog post.) and B) pasteurized milk is not risk-free (If your pasteurized milk IS contaminated, you’re just less able to combat the “bad bugs” because your intestinal tract is so compromised.)
No one is saying that it’s impossible to get sick from raw milk. Only that there are plenty of foods one CAN get sick from – we can’t just go around not eating! The risk from clean raw milk is not exceptional.
Lori, as my “goat guru” tells me…you had trouble with the raw milk PROCESSING, not the raw milk. Something was broken in the whole process for either that goat or all the goats. It is abnormal to get sick from raw milk; that tells you that a mistake was made in how it was handled or something the goat/s ate. Having said that, I am very careful how I feed and process my milk. We are constantly exposed to toxins, and MSG can make me deathly ill. There are many safe foods that have MSG. I have to watch every possibility. So sorry you and your family got sick. Give it another try? The stuff you buy in the store is killing your gut…slowly, so you don’t notice immediately, like the bad raw milk you experienced. Your body did what it was supposed to do. Not long ago, a good friend of mine almost died from Clostridium Difficile due to a mistake by a doctor with antibiotics. Most people think antibiotics are safe…
The Wall Street Journal headlined an article the day after this blog post published identifying raw milk as a low risk food.
From the article: “The reviewer, Nadine Ijaz, MSc, demonstrated how inappropriate evidence has long been mistakenly used to affirm the “myth” that raw milk is a high-risk food, as it was in the 1930s. Today, green leafy vegetables are the most frequent cause of food-borne illness in the United States. “
Hi Lori, It is understandable that you would not want to give a food another chance when you got ill- my mother got put off rabbit for life, and many people get put off fish when they have a bad case of food poisoning. May I suggest a compromise – eating and water down to drink Kefir from raw milk? The good bacteria in Kefir has proven capable of killing tuberculosis and other bacteria within a few hours. It is win win – you get no or mininscule risk and a food with increased nutrition-vitamins, minerals, enzymes as well as the probiotics.
Examples of soft cheeses are???? Cream cheese? Brie?
I am new to all this and have a question about what constitutes soft un-aged cheese. Does cream cheese fall in this category? how about homemade farmers cheese?
I read to stick with grass-fed when it came to un-aged soft cheeses.