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Adopted January 28, 2008
Editor's Note: The NEHA Board of Directors recently adopted this position in opposition to any legislation that would allow the sale or distribution of raw, unpasteurized milk to the consumer. NEHA strongly supports pasteurization before sale to the consumer. In addition, NEHA strongly supports consumer education about the dangers of consuming raw, unpasteurized milk. Below is the full text of the NEHA position.
The Cornell University Department of Food Safety has stated that "milk is a natural food. It is nutrient-rich: it contributes high-quality protein, essential vitamins and minerals including calcium to the diet" (Scott, 2002). Milk in its raw state contains a number of bacteria, some of which may be pathogenic such as enterotoxigenic Staphylcoccus aureus, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Yersinia, Brucella, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Headrick et al., 1998). This is the case for all dairy animals, including cows, goats, and sheep. The process of pasteurization has been used for a hundred years to destroy pathogenic bacteria that are present in raw milk (International Association for Food Protection [IAFP], 2008). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2006), and the World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2006) endorse the process of pasteurizing milk as a public health control measure.
Milkborne disease has been reduced greatly by the use of pasteurization. Prior to 1938, milkborne illness represented 25 percent of all foodborne illness outbreaks. As a result of efforts by the U.S. Public Health Service and individual states requiring the mandatory use of pasteurization, milkborne illness represents less than 1 percent of foodborne illness outbreaks. cases of illness caused by the consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk have continued to occur (Headrick et al., 1998). FDA and CDC have noted the following outbreaks:
* December 2007: Three counties in North Carolina reported cases of Listeria monocytogenes from the consumption of illegally produced soft Mexican type cheeses made from raw milk (State of North Carolina, 2007).
* 2007: CDC reported 29 cases of Salmonella typhimurium infection that were associated with the consumption of raw milk and cheese made from raw milk in York County, Pennsylvania (CDC, 2007b).
* 2007: CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the week of March 2,...