Wisconsin Pushes to Have Raw Milk Farmer Vernon Hershberger Jailed

[KichigaiNeko]

Milk is an excellent medium for microbial growth,[11] and when stored at ambient temperature bacteria and other pathogens soon proliferate.[12] Before the widespread urban growth caused by industrialisation, people kept dairy cows even in urban areas, and the short time between milking and consumption minimised the disease risk of drinking raw milk.[13] However, as urban densities increased and supply chains lengthened to the distance from country to city, the often days-old raw milk began being recognised as a source of disease. For example, between 1912 and 1937 some 65,000 people died of tuberculosis contracted from consuming milk in England and Wales alone.[14] Developed countries adopted pasteurization of milk in order to prevent such disease and loss of life, and as a result milk is now widely considered to be one of the safest foods.[13]

Proponents of unpasteurized milk make the argument that if milk is obtained from humanely raised cows that are grass fed and handled hygienically, then there is little problem with disease.[21] However, raw milk can become contaminated in a number of ways: by coming into contact with cow feces or bacteria living on the skin of cows, from an infection of the cow's udder, or from dirty equipment, among others.[22] According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), improperly handled raw milk is responsible for nearly three times more hospitalizations than any other foodborne disease outbreak, making it one of the world's most dangerous food products.[23]

I am thinking this is what they (the authorities) are most afraid of

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A side effect of the heating of pasteurization is that some vitamin and mineral content is lost. Soluble calcium and phosphorus decrease by 5%, thiamin and vitamin B12 by 10%, and vitamin C by 20%.[14][29] Because losses are small in comparison to the large amount of the two B-vitamins present, milk continues to provide significant amounts of thiamin and vitamin B12. As milk is not an important dietary source of vitamin C, this loss is not nutritionally significant.
Proponents of non-pasteurized raw milk credit it with having more beneficial bacteria and enzymes than its processed counterpart; however, raw milk is far more likely to contain harmful microbial contaminants, and pasteurization is the only effective way of killing most pathogenic bacteria.[30]