One of the most exciting things that has happened with this blog over the past year is a large increase in the international readership. This is exciting to me as they bring a unique perspective to the discussion, contribute suggestions and ask questions that those of us living in the United States have perhaps never considered before.
One question that I’ve been getting recently, particularly from readers in India and Eastern Europe, is how to consume raw dairy safely when the cleanliness of the source is questionable.
People in these countries typically boil their raw milk first before drinking. Â However, the information they were reading on this blog and elsewhere about the health benefits of raw milk had prompted them to reconsider this practice. Â They wanted to start consuming fresh dairy in order to enjoy the significantly improved nutritional profile of milk that has been completely unheated.
What to do in this situation? Â I put this question to Tim Wightman, President of the Farm to Consumer Foundation and grassbased farmer extraordinaire to see what he had to say.
Three Methods for Ensuring Raw Milk Quality
If you are unsure of your raw milk source or are using it for the first time and are not yet 100% comfortable with your decision, try one or all of these methods to set your mind at ease:
- Buy only small amounts of raw milk at a time and use up within one to three days. Bacteria that cause food borne illness with the exception of Campylobactor require more than a few days to develop in the quantities necessary to cause human illness.
- Make homemade (unheated) kefir with the raw milk before consuming. Â If the milk is of questionable quality, the kefir won’t set right and the end result will be whey and milk solids or a very runny kefir that won’t be desirable for consumption.
- Probably the best way to drink raw milk and have peace of mind even if you are not completely sure of the cleanliness of your source is to freeze the milk for two weeks first before thawing and then drinking. Â Food or drink frozen for that period of time is considered safe to consume. Â As a bonus, raw milk that is frozen and thawed that ends up quite close to its original form with only just a few very small milk solids floating around is a good indication of quality milk.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
2 Questions.
If I freeze the milk for 2 weeks and then defrost, can it still be used in cheese making??
Also would the cream still separate and be ok to make butter with or should I skim it off in the beginning and dispose of it?
I do believe that frozen/thawed milk is still fine for cheesemaking. That said, I am no cheesemaking expert. Yes, the cream still separates on cow’s milk after it has been frozen and thawed.
I raise dairy goats and have frozen milk many times and then thawed it for cheesemaking as well as kefir. Goats milk cream does not rise to the top much though because it is naturally homegnized. I would assume previoulsy frozen cow’s milk would make cheese fine as well.
Tracey
I was wondering how your cleaned your milk jars? We tried glass, but they kept breaking on us so we switched to HDPE plastic ones. A week ago my family got pretty sick, and the milk was the suspect (it smelled really off too). But no one else we’ve talked to, who gets milk from the same place we do, got sick. So we’re thinking it’s the jugs…any suggestions?!
Eh, looks like Big Dairy has invaded this place. However, I personally would not drink raw milk or any milk for that matter from an unknown source. But its none of my business what other people do. if you don’t want to drink raw milk than don’t, but don’t take that right away from other people who do.
How to Drink Raw Milk Even When Unsure of Your Source – The Healthy Home Economist
http://t.co/pOrB0sb5
Sara, can you give a specific reference to the USDA guidelines that recommend freezing raw milk and then making it legal to cross state lines? Thanks.
See the comment above by Tim Wightman. He references GRAS status (Generally Regarded As Safe) for any food frozen for at least 2 weeks. GRAS status is granted by the FDA if I recall but there is also something about this in USDA guidelines.
I sometimes take for granted the blessings of living in the U.S. Our family has been enjoying raw milk since July of 2011. I found my farmer through realmilk.com by way of the Weston Price site. She is only 20 minutes away AND they are Amish. Before going to the farm I did my research and found the questions to ask and the responses to listen for. During our tour of the farm she answered all of my questions and more. I have a contract drafted by the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund with my farmer and bought a cow share. (I live in Virginia where it is illegal to buy/sell raw milk). Thank you Sara for your How-To Video’s – I’ve made yoghurt, whey and cream cheese and am now making kefir.
Angie, I couldn’t help but notice this post. I have never had raw milk before but I keep organic in the house. It last for awhile I noticed and I’ve never had it sour! If you have time, I’d love to have information on raw milk. I wonder if we could even get it in this liberal state?
That is the beauty of raw milk, it never goes bad. It might sour but then it is great for baking. Makes the best pancakes. And I have never had mine go sour. I have to leave it for a week or more before it will sour.
Thank you Sarah for this post! I live in Morocco where raw milk is plentiful, but the quality is questionable. I had been thinking of writing you or Jenny at Nourished Kitchen this very question for a while now. We now get milk from a farmer who pledges his farm is organic and cows are solely grass-fed. Of course the milk still comes in re-used water and soda bottles, but we haven’t yet had any problems with it. The next time I’m in the States I look forward to buying some Kefir grains so I can give Kefir a try and in the meantime I’ll try freezing it! Big Thanks!
One of the things I want to do is try raw milk this year. I found out that in Louisiana, you can only buy raw milk if you say it’s for your animals.