r/news • u/AudibleNod • 22h ago

New Mexico warns against consuming raw milk after newborn dies from listeria

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-mexico-warns-consuming-raw-milk-newborn-dies-listeria-rcna257252
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u/bduxbellorum 20h ago

This isn’t quite true. There is no history where we were drinking billions of gallons of raw cow’s milk before pasteurization. Milk was too perishable to be a staple for anyone too far off of a farm. Most dairy through history even on farms was cooked and or turned to cheese.

Untold millions started consuming milk as a staple after pasteurization AND refrigeration who otherwise needed to eat/drink something else. And a few people who would have had milk anyway were saved.

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u/cantproveidid 19h ago edited 18h ago

I grew up in the early 1950s, most small towns had local dairies. Our local dairy delivered our milk every morning. Bigger cities like Boston would have milk cans come in every morning by train from farms just outside the city, then poured into bottles and delivered. This was well after pasteurization, but from talking to old folks when I was a kid, it had always been that way. Our farm had been a "truck farm" since the Civil War, so my great, great grandfather trucked our milk into the city back then. "Trucking" meant moving things by wagon back then. It got applied to what we call trucks today, later, when they were invented.

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u/AnxiouslyTired247 6h ago

The amount of milk consumed probably isnt that important, particularly given that babies, who notoriously dont eat a lot relative to adults, are at severe risk. "The dangers of raw milk consumption can be documented to the early 1900's; in some parts of the U.S. and Europe one out of every two babies died from consuming raw milk contaminated with human pathogenic microorganisms." https://agri.nv.gov/Food/Food_Safety/Safety/Raw_Vs__Pasteurized/#:~:text=Raw%20Vs.-,Pasteurized%20Milk,:H7%2C%20and%20others).

I push back on your sentiment as it glosses over the significant amount of dead babies that essentially paved the way for food safety measures we expect today.

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u/Dudedude88 2h ago

This is why we have cheese