Robert F. Kennedy jr – the incoming boss of the US Department of Health and Human Services – is a fan of raw milk, believing that it “advances human health”.

Raw milk is milk from cows, horses, camels, sheep or goats that has not been pasteurised to kill dangerous bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, and Staphylococcus aureus.

US health agencies have pushed back against Kennedy’s raw milk evangelism.

“Unpasteurised milk can pose a serious health risk,” the Food and Drug Administration warned.

“Raw milk can be a source of foodborne illness,” said the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kennedy called the FDA’s stance “aggressive suppression”.

US federal law prohibits the sale of unpasteurised milk across state lines. But individual state laws govern the sale of unpasteurised milk within each state.

The fact is, half the states in the US allow full retail sale of raw milk for human consumption, or sale from farms.

According to a 2013 paper, 3.4 per cent of US consumers consume raw milk.

Raw milk can be legally sold in Australia as a cosmetic product. Image: Heavenly Bath Milk

In the age of social media influencers, and wayward health advice, enthusiasm for raw milk has increased.

Since March 25, according to PBS News, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in US cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have spiked by 21 per cent.

According to the CDC, greater access to unpasteurised milk has led to more associated outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, based on US data from 2013 to 2018.

What about Australia?

In 2014, a three-year-old child died and another four young children fell seriously ill after drinking un-pasteurised cows’ milk being sold in health food shops as “bath milk”.

The ABC, in 2016, reported that raw milk producers were “making a renewed push to legislate the sale of unpasteurised milk”.

The CSIRO, in 2018, reported raw milk contaminated by bacteria such as Campylobacter and Salmonella caused at least nine outbreaks of disease between 1997 and 2008, leading to 117 cases of illness.

Farmers are allowed to drink their own raw milk.

Otherwise, selling raw milk for human consumption in Australia has been effectively banned since the 1940, when it became compulsory to pasteurise cows’ milk nationally.

Pasteurisation involves heating milk for a short period. Usually it is heated to 72 degrees for 15 seconds.

Many countries permit raw milk to be sold for human consumption under tight regulation. Australia is one of the few to impose a blanket ban.

Why the raw enthusiasm?

As discussed in a recent Conversation piece, raw milk enthusiasts, online and otherwise, claim that it can heal the gut, boost the immune system, prevent allergies in small children, give you healthier skin and even contribute to bodybuilding.

Evidence is scanty. A 2016 paper found raw milk gave some protective benefits for allergies and asthma, but the authors concluded:

“Because of the minimal but real risk of life-threatening infections, however, consumption of raw milk and products thereof is strongly discouraged.”

This echoes other findings that the benefits of drinking raw milk are outweighed by the risks.

The Conversation piece, from 2019, reported: A growing perception, driven by lobbying and social media enthusiasm is that pasteurisation reduces the amount of vitamins and ‘good’ bacteria in the drink. In other words, pasteurisation is believed to be better for you.”

The evidence is cloudy at best.

According to Better Health – the Victorian government’s online advice platform – “there is no substantiated evidence to suggest there is any significant difference at all in the nutritional status of pasteurised or unpasteurised milk”.

There is also “no credible scientific evidence to show raw milk provides additional health benefits”.

NSW Health also notes that raw milk “provides an ideal environment for a range of pathogenic organisms and has been associated with numerous outbreaks of disease and illness in humans”.

Public health officials here and abroad are holding fast to that position as enthusiasm for raw milk increases.

The risks of illness from drinking raw milk are greater for young children, the elderly, pregnant women, people with underlying health problems or are immunosuppressed.