Legalize Interstate Raw Milk

Did you know that it is currently illegal to sell raw milk across state lines? The FDA’s ban on interstate raw milk harms small farms as well as informed consumers, who purposely seek out raw milk for its health benefits and superb taste.

Raw milk that is carefully and intentionally produced for direct human consumption is a low-risk food, and recent improvements in raw milk risk management methods and training have led to a significant reduction in raw milk-related illnesses and outbreaks.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that raw milk is correlated with decreased rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, otitis, fever, and respiratory infections. Raw milk consumption is also correlated with improved lung function and gut health.

It is time for the ban on interstate raw milk to be overturned. The Interstate Milk Freedom Act is a bipartisan bill that would prohibit federal interference with interstate transport of raw milk. Ask your representatives to support HR 5410.

Letter to Medical Professionals about Raw Milk

The Raw Milk Institute has written a letter addressed to medical professionals about the benefits and safety of raw milk. This letter provides a comprehensive summary of the latest science on the nutritional and health benefits of raw milk, the negative impacts of pasteurization, and the safety of raw milk.

Feel free to share this letter far and wide! It can be used to educate your family doctor or other healthcare professionals about why you choose to drink raw milk. And it can also be given to interested family and friends who want to know more about raw milk.

Raw Milk Institute Board of Directors

RawMilkInstitute.org

December 2019

To: Medical Professionals and Healthcare Providers

Re: Raw Milk as a Low-Risk Therapeutic Tool

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Several medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Canadian Medical Association, and Australian Medical Association, promote a position against consumption of raw milk or raw milk products.  The stated reasons for this position are that raw milk may contain dangerous pathogens  and that raw milk does not possess any benefits over pasteurized milk. However,  these conclusions are outdated and in conflict with the most up-to-date peer-reviewed and internationally-published research.

It is true that raw milk produced as “intended for pasteurization” and sourced from  Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) is generally unsanitary and unsafe to consume raw.  Such milk is being produced in conditions where animal health is compromised, antibiotics are utilized, hormones are used to stimulate higher levels of milk production, there is an abundance of manure, and there is a corresponding high rate of pathogens.  This type of milk is generally commingled with milk from multiple dairies, which increases the risk of pathogenic exposure. This type of raw milk is actually defined under the Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance.  At the Raw Milk Institute, we agree that consumption of this type of raw milk is high risk.

However, raw milk that is carefully and intentionally produced for direct human consumption is a low-risk food with superb nutritional benefits. This type of raw milk is wholly different from raw milk being produced in unhygienic conditions. Raw milk intended for direct human consumption is produced in sanitary conditions, with much care to ensure that the animals are healthy and that the milk is clean. This type of raw milk is tested often and held to rigorous standards to ensure that it is being produced in a way that discourages pathogen growth.  

Carefully produced raw milk has numerous health advantages over pasteurized milk. Whereas pasteurized milk is now recognized as a top food allergen and difficult to digest, raw milk is actually a health-supporting food with rich therapeutic potential and is easily digested by most consumers.  Like breastmilk, raw milk is a living whole food which provides excellent nutrition along with health-supporting enzymes and probiotics. Raw milk has a superior nutrient profile, whereas pasteurized milk has diminished nutrition with denatured proteins and fats. People who are lactose intolerant can often consume raw milk with no maldigestion, due to the presence of a variety of living bacteria which facilitate production of lactase enzyme in the intestines. Numerous scientific studies have shown that raw milk is correlated with decreased rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, otitis, fever, and respiratory infections. Raw milk also aids in recovery from antibiotic use, and provides many gut-healthy probiotics and enzymes.

Carefully produced raw milk is a health-promoting food that has been maligned because of the simple fact that people are confusing it with commodity milk that has been produced with the intention to be pasteurized. Doctors and healthcare professionals routinely warn patients that raw milk is unsafe to consume, but there is ample evidence that this conclusion is not applicable to carefully-produced raw milk. For the health of your patients and clients, please consider the following information about the benefits and safety of raw milk.

Nutritional Benefits of Pasteurized Milk vs. Raw Milk

Pasteurized milk is now known as one of the foremost allergenic foods [1]. Scientific evidence against pasteurized milk is mounting: for instance, a study of nearly 800 European children found that children who consumed pasteurized milk were more likely to show signs of milk allergy, whereas children who consumed raw milk were protected from milk allergy [2]. The process of pasteurization denatures and destroys many nutrients, so much so that synthetic vitamins are added back in after pasteurization.

The CDC argues that, "Most of the nutritional benefits of drinking milk are available from pasteurized milk" and "the heating process of pasteurization inactivates some enzymes in milk but scientists do not believe these enzymes are important in human health"[3].  These conclusions are clearly outdated and in conflict with the most recent research. Current science has shown that pasteurization has a negative effect on the nutritive qualities of milk, and the impact is not inconsequential.

Pasteurization of milk has been shown to:

• Reduce the bioavailability of calcium and phosphorus [4, 5],

• Reduce the presence of copper and iron [6],

• Reduce Vitamins A, B Complex, C, and E [3, 7, 8],

• Destroy beta-lactoglobulin, thereby decreasing intestinal absorption of Vitamins A and D [9, 10],

• Destroy probiotics [11], including lactobacillus and pediococcus, and

• Inactivate beneficial enzymes, including lactase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactoperoxidase [12, 13].

In many ways, raw milk can be likened to breastmilk: they both contain a wide array of beneficial nutrients, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals, in their natural form which is most easily utilized by the body. Both raw milk and breastmilk are designed to provide excellent nutrition and strengthen the immune system . It is widely acknowledged that breastmilk is the best food for the early years of life, however raw milk is a natural next step after breastfeeding. Raw milk, and especially raw milk from pastured animals [14],  is a great source of calcium, iron, Vitamins A, D & K, phosphorus, zinc, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and omega-3 fatty acids, plus many beneficial enzymes and probiotics.

Raw milk contains many types of beneficial enzymes, yet these enzymes are inactivated by pasteurization. For instance, raw milk contains protease enzyme, which aids in digestion of proteins [13], and lipase enzyme, which aids in digestion of fats [15].   Lactoperoxidase is a naturally occurring antimicrobial enzyme in raw milk [16]. Alkaline phosphatase enzyme is attached to the fat globules in raw milk; intestinal alkaline phosphatase enzyme is associated with decreased inflammation and lower rates of cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes [17]. These and numerous other beneficial enzymes in raw milk are inactivated by pasteurization.

Beneficial probiotics in raw milk are diverse and abundant. These raw milk probiotics have a number of known health benefits. For example, raw milk contains a variety of living bacteria which facilitate the production of lactase enzyme in the intestine, which has been shown to help with lactose digestion in lactose intolerant people [18]. Lactobacilli "typically inhibit pathogenic organisms, reduce lactose intolerance, increase the immune response and often are gastrointestinal isolates... Other milk and dairy isolates that exhibit probiotic properties include strains of Lactococcus lactis as well as a variety of Pediococcus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus and Streptococcus isolates... Strains of P. freudenreichii, and to a lesser extent P. acidipropionici, have begun to attract attention as potential probiotics as a consequence of studies revealing an ability, either alone or in combination with other probiotics, to reduce pathogen adhesion to mucus, increase bifidobacteria counts in the gut, aid in restoring a healthy gut microbiota, improve bowel movement, alleviate inflammatory disorders and reduce allergy development in infants" [19]. Probiotics are destroyed by pasteurization.

Health Benefits of Raw Milk

From 1893-1999, the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions  (AAMMC) certified clean, safe raw milk for human consumption and even medical therapeutic use. This certified raw milk was recognized to be of therapeutic benefit for infants, children, and adults [20]. This milk was used effectively in hospitals around the United States and was used to treat a wide variety of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, renal disease, liver disease, hypertension, edema, asthma, arthritis, tuberculosis, and diabetes [21, 22, 23].

Dr. Charles Porter MD published the book Milk Diet as a Remedy for Chronic Disease, which details his use of a raw milk diet in the treatment of over 18,000 patients over the course of 27 years. Dr J.E. Crewe MD, one of the founders of the Mayo Foundation, successfully used raw milk in his medical practice for over 15 years, and said that the "results obtained in various types of disease have been so uniformly excellent that one’s conception of disease and its alleviation is necessarily changed... When sick people are limited to a diet containing an excess of vitamins and all the elements necessary to growth and maintenance, they recover rapidly without the use of drugs and without bringing to bear all the complicated weapons of modern medicine" [22].

More recent scientific studies have shown that raw milk is associated with a number of tangible health benefits:

• A study of over 8,000 European children showed that raw milk consumption is associated with significantly lower rates of asthma and allergies [24].

• A study of over 900 European children concluded that, "Continuous farm [raw] milk consumption in childhood protects against asthma at school age" [25].

• A study of over 14,800 European children concluded that there is a "significant inverse association between farm [raw] milk consumption and childhood asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, sensitization to pollen, a mix of food allergens, and horse dander" [26].

• A study of over 3,000 USA adults concluded that, " Raw milk, if the main type of milk consumed in childhood, was also associated with reduced risk of atopy" and current raw milk consumption in adulthood intensified this beneficial effect [27]. 

• A study of over 3,000 USA adults concluded that, "raw milk consumption, particularly early in life, is associated with better pulmonary function in adulthood" [28].

• A study of over 900 European children concluded that, "Early life consumption of raw cow's milk reduced the risk of manifest respiratory infections and fever by about 30%" [29].

• A study of over 4,000 European children found that consumption of raw milk was associated with a strong protective effect against eczema [30].

These studies specifically compared raw milk to pasteurized milk, and have concluded that raw milk has significant health benefits over pasteurized milk.

Safety of Raw Milk

It is important to note that there is no such thing as a perfectly safe food [20]. An analysis of foodborne illnesses from 2009-2015 showed that the top food categories commonly linked to illnesses were chicken, pork, and seeded vegetables [31]. Pasteurized milk is not perfectly safe, either, and is implicated in foodborne illnesses and outbreaks every year.  CDC outbreak and illness data since 1972 shows at least 82 deaths from pasteurized dairy products.

The CDC outbreak and illness data which is used to assert that raw milk is unsafe does not distinguish raw milk intended for pasteurization from raw milk that is carefully produced and intended for direct human consumption. The FDA has no standard for raw milk intended for human consumption. It has only the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO).  It is known that raw milk intended for pasteurization often contains pathogens; studies have shown that up to 24% of this type of milk tests positive for pathogens [32]. Additionally, the CDC data used to implicate raw milk includes outbreaks and illnesses from “bathtub cheese” (i.e. Mexican-style Queso Fresco made illegally at home); queso fresco is inherently more dangerous than raw milk, and is associated with more serious outbreaks and illnesses. The CDC data reports only two deaths from raw dairy products since 1972, and both of these deaths were associated with queso fresco.

Nearly 10 million people in the USA were consuming raw milk regularly as of 2007 [33], and the number of people consuming raw milk is likely to be higher now given the growing popularity of raw milk. An independent assessment of raw milk risks from 2000-2007, which excluded queso fresco-related illnesses and outbreaks, concluded that there was a "a roughly 1 in 94,000 chance of becoming ill from drinking unpasteurized milk during that period... During the 2000−2007 period, there were 12 hospitalizations for illnesses associated with raw fluid milk. That’s an average of 1.5 per year. With approximately 9.4 million people drinking raw milk, that means you have about a 1 in 6 million chance of being hospitalized from drinking raw milk" [34].

Furthermore, recent improvements in raw milk risk management methods and training have led to a significant reduction in raw milk-related illnesses and outbreaks.  The Raw Milk Institute, founded in 2011, has developed farmer training and Common Standards for raw milk which is intended for direct human consumption. These rigorous standards and training result in low-risk raw milk, as documented in a 2018 peer-reviewed paper titled, " Recent Trends in Unpasteurized Fluid Milk Outbreaks, Legalization, and Consumption in the United States." This paper concluded that, "The rate of unpasteurized milk-associated outbreaks has been declining since 2010, despite increasing legal distribution. Controlling for growth in population and consumption, the outbreak rate has effectively decreased by 74% since 2005" [35].

A Balanced Viewpoint About Raw Milk

Commodity raw milk and dedicated raw drinking milk are categorically different foods.  It is clear that raw milk produced with the intention to be pasteurized is likely to contain dangerous pathogens. However, raw milk that is carefully produced for direct human consumption is subjected to rigorous testing and standards. Evidence has shown that this type of raw milk is a low-risk food.

Raw milk has superior nutrition and significant health benefits over pasteurized milk.  Raw milk contains greater bioavailable nutrients than pasteurized milk, as well as a wide array of beneficial enzymes and probiotics which are known to have benefits on the immune system and gastrointestinal tract.  Raw milk consumption has been correlated with increased resistance to allergies, asthma, respiratory infections, otitis, and eczema.  Thus, raw milk can be an important therapeutic tool.

If you would like more information about raw milk, please feel free to contact the Raw Milk Institute by email at contact@rawmilkinstitute.org .

The Raw Milk Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to mentoring and training farmers in the production of safe, low-risk raw milk.

References

[1] Frequently Asked Questions About Food Allergies. Food and Drug Administration website as of November 7, 2019. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-allergens/frequently-asked-questions-about-food-allergies

[2] Atopic sensitization in the first year of life. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2013; 131(3):781-8. Depner M, Ege MJ, Genuneit J, Pekkanen J, Roponen M, Hirvonen MR, Dalphin JC, Kaulek V, Krauss-Etschmann S, Riedler J, Braun-Fahrländer C, Roduit C, Lauener R, Pfefferle PI, Weber J, von Mutius E; PASTURE Study Group. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(12)01975-6/fulltext

[3] Raw Milk Questions and Answers. US Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as of November 6, 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html

[4] A Comparison of Raw, Pasteurized, Evaporated, and Dried Milks as Sources of Calcium and Phosphorus for the Human Subject. Department of Food Economics and Nutrition, Kansas Experiment Station, Manhattan. 1928. Kramer MM, Latzke E, Shaw MM.

[5] Assessing the effects of severe heat treatment of milk on calcium bioavailability: in vitro and in vivo studies. Journal of Dairy Science. 2010; 93(12): 5635-43. Seiquer I, Delgado-Andrade C, Haro A, Navarro MP. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21094734

[6] Effect of processing on contents and relationships of mineral elements of milk. Food Chemistry. 1994; 51(1): 75-78. Zurera-Cosano G, Moreno-Rojas R, Amaro-Lopez M. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0308814694900507

[7] Influence of thermal and other manufacturing stresses on retinol isomerization in milk and dairy products. Journal of Dairy Research. 1998; 65(2): 253-60. Panfili G, Manzi P, Pizzoferrato L. http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/9627844

[8] A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of pasteurization on milk vitamins, and evidence for raw milk consumption and other health-related outcomes. Journal of Food Protection. 2011;74(11):1814-32. Macdonald LE, Brett J, Kelton D, Majowicz SE, Snedeker K, Sargeant JM. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22054181

[9] Intestinal uptake of retinol: enhancement by bovine milk beta-lactoglobulin. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1989; 49(4): 690-94. Said HM, Ong DE, Shingleton JL. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/49/4/690/4732752

[10] Evidence for beta-lactoglobulin involvement in vitamin D transport in vivo--role of the gamma-turn (Leu-Pro-Met) of beta-lactoglobulin in vitamin D binding. FEBS Journal. 2009; 276(8):2251-65. Yang MC, Chen NC, Chen CJ, Wu CY, Mao SJ. https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1742-4658.2009.06953.x  

[11] The growing role of probiotics. Harvard Men's Health Watch. 2018. Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-growing-role-of-probiotics

[12] Alkaline Phosphatase Testing for Milk Pasteurization. Dairy Foods Science Notes. 11-07. Department of Food Science, Cornell University. https://foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/sites/foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/CU-DFScience-Notes-Milk-Alk-Phosphatase-11-07.pdf

[13] Proteolytic Systems in Milk: Perspectives on the Evolutionary Function within the Mammary Gland and the Infant. Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia. 2015; 20(3-4):133-47. DC Dallas, NM Murray, J Gan.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4637187/

[14] The Role of Trees and Pastures in Organic Agriculture. Sustainable Agriculture Research. 2015; 4: 47-55. J Heckman. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/sar/article/view/50105

[15] Lipases in bovine milk and the relationship between the lipoprotein lipase and tributyrate hydrolysing activities in cream and skim-milk. Journal of Dairy Research. 1975; 42(2): 255-66. HB Castberg, T Egelrud, P Solberg, T Olivecrona. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/237941

[16] Contribution of the lactoperoxidase system to the keeping quality of pasteurized milk. Journal of Dairy Research. 1999; 66(1):73-80. Barrett NE, Grandison AS, Lewis MJ. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10191475

[17] Dairy products and the French paradox: Could alkaline phosphatases play a role? Medical Hypotheses. 2016; 92:7-11. Lallès JP. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987716300500?via%3Dihub

[18] Effect of a single dose of lactase on symptoms and expired hydrogen after lactose challenge in lactose-intolerant subjects. Clinical Pharmacy. 1992; 11(6):533-8. Sanders SW, Tolman KG, Reitberg DP. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1534729

[19] The complex microbiota of raw milk. FEMS Microbiology Review. 2013: 37(5), 664-98. Quigley L, O'Sullivan O, Stanton C, Beresford TP, Ross RP, Fitzgerald GF, Cotter PD. https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/37/5/664/541439

[20] Securing Fresh Food From Fertile Soil, Challenges to the Organic and Raw Milk Movements. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, Cambridge University Press. 2017. J Heckman. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/renewable-agriculture-and-food-systems/article/securing-fresh-food-from-fertile-soil-challenges-to-the-organic-and-raw-milk-movements/18325E375E068A538E07EF4E6F6ABA22

[21] Porter, Charles Sanford. Milk Diet as a Remedy for Chronic Disease. Burnett P.O., California, 1911. https://archive.org/details/milkdietasremedy00portiala/page/n1

[22] Use of Milk in the Treatment of Human Disease. Proceedings of the 29th Annual Meeting of the United States Live Stock Sanitary Association. 1925. Crewe JE. https://www.usaha.org/upload/Proceedings/1897-1929/1925_TWENTY_NINTH_ANNUAL_MEETING.pdf

[23] Macfadden, Bernarr. The Milk Diet: How to Use the Milk Diet Scientifically at Home. 1923.

[24] The protective effect of farm milk consumption on childhood asthma and atopy: The GABRIELA study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2011; 128 (4): 766-73. Loss G, Apprich S, Waser M, Kneifel W, Genuneit J, Büchele G, Weber J, Sozanska B, Danielewicz H, Horak E, Joost van Neerven RJ, Heederik D, Lorenzen PC, von Mutius E, Braun-Fahrländer C; GABRIELA study group. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(11)01234-6/fulltext

[25] ω-3 fatty acids contribute to the asthma-protective effect of unprocessed cow's milk. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2016; 137 (6): 1699-1706. Brick T, Schober Y, Böcking C, Pekkanen J, Genuneit J, Loss G, Dalphin JC, Riedler J, Lauener R, Nockher WA, Renz H, Vaarala O, Braun-Fahrländer C, von Mutius E, Ege MJ, Pfefferle PI; PASTURE study group. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(15)01731-5/fulltext

[26] Inverse association of farm milk consumption with asthma and allergy in rural and suburban populations across Europe. Clinical and Experimental Allergy. 2007; 37(5):661-70. Waser M, Michels KB, Bieli C, Flöistrup H, Pershagen G, von Mutius E, Ege M, Riedler J, Schram-Bijkerk D, Brunekreef B, van Hage M, Lauener R, Braun-Fahrländer C; PARSIFAL study team. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17456213

[27] Early-life farm exposures and adult asthma and atopy in the Agricultural Lung Health Study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2017; 140 (1): 249-56. House JS, Wyss AB, Hoppin JA, Richards M, Long S, Umbach DM, Henneberger PK, Beane Freeman LE, Sandler DP, O’Connell EL, Barker-Cummings C, London SJ. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5429211/

[28] Raw Milk Consumption and Other Early-life Farm Exposures and Adult Pulmonary Function in the Agricultural Lung Health Study. Thorax. 2018; 73(3): 279-82. Wyss AB, House JS, Hoppin JA, Richards M, Hankinson JL, Long S, Henneberger PK, Beane Freeman LE, Sandler DP, O'Connell EL, Cummings CB, Umbach DM, London SJ. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5758444/

[29] Consumption of unprocessed cow's milk protects infants from common respiratory infections. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2015; 135 (1): 56-62. Loss G, Depner M, Ulfman LH, Joost van Neerven RJ, Hose AJ, Genuneit J, Karvonen M, Hyvärinen A, Kaulek V, Roduit C, Weber J, Lauener R, Pfefferle PI, Pekkanen J, Vaarala O, Dalphin JC, Riedler J, Braun-Fahrländer C, von Mutius E, Ege MJ; PASTURE study group. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2814%2901274-3/fulltext

[30] Which aspects of the farming lifestyle explain the inverse association with childhood allergy? Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2006; 117 (6):1374-81. Perkin MR, Strachan DP. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(06)00651-8/fulltext

[31] Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks - United States, 2009-2015. US Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/ss/ss6710a1.htm

[32] Two Types of Raw Milk: A Comparison of Pathogen Contamination Rates. British Columbia Herdshare Association. 2019. http://www.bcherdshare.org/education/two-types-of-raw-milk-lab-evidence.pdf

[33] Population Survey Atlas of Exposures, 2006-2007. Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network. US Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/surveys/FNExpAtl03022011.pdf

[34] Raw Milk Reality: Is Raw Milk Dangerous? 2019. Kresser C. https://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-reality-is-raw-milk-dangerous/

[35] Recent Trends in Unpasteurized Fluid Milk Outbreaks, Legalization, and Consumption in the United States. PLOS Currents. 2018; 10. Whitehead J, Lake B. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140832

Upcoming Raw Milk Risk Management Training

We’re spreading the message far and wide! In early 2020, the Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI) will be presenting in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. These presentations will focus on raw milk benefits as well as risk management for the production of safe, low-risk raw milk. The Massachusetts and New York training presentations will be shorter and serve more as an introduction to the topic of low-risk raw milk, whereas the Pennsylvania training presentation will be a half-day workshop that digs deep into the details of how to produce low-risk raw milk.

RAWMI is a non-profit organization, and we’re on a mission to improve the safety and quality of raw milk and raw milk products. Studies have shown that raw milk has superb nutrition, is easier to digest, and is correlated with lower rates of allergies, eczema, and infections. Raw milk helps to build the body’s immune system through numerous beneficial bacteria and enzymes, but raw milk needs to be carefully produced in order to ensure that it is a low-risk food.

Through education, outreach, and research, we’re working towards universal access to safe raw milk for everyone. Come join us for RAWMI training in 2020!

Battle for Butter

Together with the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, RAWMI is taking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to court over legalization of raw butter! Currently, it is illegal to ship or sell raw butter across state lines. The FDA is denying Americans access to raw butter, which is a very powerful anti-inflammatory food, meanwhile we are suffering from more chronic illness! The FDA was petitioned about changing the raw butter laws in 2016; they are supposed to respond to Citizen Petitions within 180 days, but the Raw Butter Petition has had no response from the FDA for more than 3 years.

BENEFITS OF BUTTER

Raw butter is an exceptionally nutritious food. For instance, the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is found in the butter fat membrane that covers fat globules. ALP decreases inflammation in the body; it is associated with good health and less chronic illness, such as cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes. Raw milk has 4% butter fat, but raw butter contains 86% fat and thus it is very high in alkaline phosphatase.  ALP enzyme is destroyed by pasteurization.

BUTTER AND PATHOGENS

The FDA’s position is supposedly based on safety, but the science shows otherwise. Butter's low moisture, low pH levels, high fat content and salt levels inhibit pathogen growth. Safe raw milk makes ultra-safe raw butter with powerful health benefits.

The FDA should have no rational or reasonable basis for argument against raw butter and its legal access by all Americans. The courts should side with the facts and order the FDA to start regulating raw butter the way they regulate 60-day aged raw cheese, allowing it to pass freely all over America. Give Americans access to raw butter!

For more information, here are the official Press Release and Filed Complaint from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund:

FTCLDF Press Release

FTCLDF Filed Complaint

RAWMI Ripple - September 2019

September 2019 Edition

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the Fall 2019 edition of the RAWMI Ripple. Herein you'll find information about the latest in the world of raw milk, including recent training, lessons learned, a newly LISTED RAWMI dairy, and the battle for national legalization of raw butter.

RAWMI Farmer Training in Washington State and British Columbia, Canada

Earlier this month, RAWMI trained farmers in Washington State and Vancouver Island (in British Columbia, Canada). RAWMI presented two 4-hour, farmer-centered training classes, covering raw milk risk management from Grass-to-Glass. Nearly 50 farmers attended the training classes. The farmers in attendance represented production of cow milk, goat milk, and sheep milk! Both of the training presentations were recorded on video, to allow RAWMI to soon have a training video available for all raw milk farmers and prospective farmers.

RAWMI specifically chose to do training in Washington State in order to reduce the raw milk illness outbreak rate.  The training attendees were from Washington State, Oregon, and British Columbia, Canada.  While in Washington, RAWMI also visited Dungeness Valley Creamery, one of the largest raw milk dairies in Washington.

On Vancouver Island in British Columbia, RAWMI's training class was attended by farmers from Vancouver Island as well as mainland British Columbia.  This class was presented in association with the British Columbia Herdshare Association, which is a non-profit organization working towards the legalization of raw milk in British Columbia. While on Vancouver Island, RAWMI visited four dairies.

Just a few of the 32 participants at the British Columbia, Canada training

S & D Smith Dairy - RAWMI LISTED Dairy #19

Congratulations to S&D Smith Dairy in Yorkshire, Ohio for becoming the 19th RAWMI LISTED dairy! S&D Smith Dairy is a herdshare, operating on nearly 200 acres of certified organic land. Their herd consists of 12 to 16 Jerseys. Welcome to the RAWMI family! 

Pre-LISTING Audit of British Columbia Dairy

While in British Columbia Canada, RAWMI performed an on-site audit of a raw milk dairy that has applied for RAWMI LISTING. We studied the dairy's entire milk production system, from grass to glass, and witnessed the morning milking routine. The dairy farmer also allowed RAWMI board member Sarah Smith to get hands-on in going through the udder prep and milking routine, so Sarah got to milk a cow for the first time!

The Canadian dairy farmer was doing a great job of producing clean, low-risk raw milk. RAWMI was able to provide some constructive feedback for small improvements, and looks forward to LISTING yet another raw milk dairy in Canada.  

Board Changes at RAWMI

Due to other time commitments and priorities, Sylvia Onusic and Peg Coleman have resigned from the RAWMI Board of Directors and moved onto the Advisory Board. The RAWMI Board thanks Sylvia and Peg for their service on the RAWMI Board of Directors. The current RAWMI Board of Directors includes Mark McAfee (Chairman), Sarah Smith (Secretary), and Joseph Heckman, PhD.

Lessons from Churchtown Dairy Listeria Incident

In July 2019, RAWMI LISTED Churchtown Dairy in New York had a positive detection for Listeria monocytogenes. This positive detection came during a routine product sample test performed by New York State dairy inspectors. Although no illnesses had been reported, Churchtown dairy immediately issued a voluntary recall of all milk and embarked on comprehensive testing of their cows and facilities in order to determine the source of the Listeria mono.

With the assistance of RAWMI, Churchtown discovered that Listeria mono was growing inside a crack in an inflation liner on one of the milk claws. Churchtown was able to address the problem and was re-approved for raw milk production within a few weeks. Churchtown is commended for their quick action in addressing this matter in a transparent way.

In raw milk production, it is important to ensure that rubber inflation liners are changed frequently, as per the manufacturer's suggested cycle life. Any cracks in inflation liners can provide a place for biofilm growth between the liners and the stainless steel shell; that area does not get cleaned with typical Clean-In-Place protocols.  Biofilms are symbiotic colonies of bacteria that can adhere to the inside of the milk lines, valves, crevices, etc. Biofilms provide a safe haven for pathogen growth, and thus an important aspect of safe raw milk production is the prevention of biofilm growth. If you ever see milk or fluids running in the vacuum line, you have a problem and it should be immediately investigated. You probably have a crack in an inflation.

Raw Milk Posters and Brochures

In response to a request from RAWMI LISTED farmers, RAWMI has developed a series of raw milk posters and a brochure that details the benefits of being RAWMI LISTED. The posters and brochure can be used at the point-of-sale or online to increase awareness of the benefits of raw milk and RAWMI LISTING. These posters are already making a big splash for raw milk via RAWMI's Facebook page! Email sarah@rawmilkinstitute.org if you want to make use of the posters and/or brochures.

Unexpected FDA Testing of RAWMI LISTED Dairy

In late April 2019, the FDA sent a team of inspectors to Organic Pastures Dairy Company (OPDC), which is a RAWMI LISTED Dairy in California. The stated reason for the inspection was twofold:

• Assure compliance with a 10-year-old court order which mandated that OPDC not ship raw dairy products over state lines, and

• Assure that OPDC (as a processer and food handler) was in compliance with the new FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations.

The inspectors spent four days examining paperwork and swabbing surfaces in the on-farm creamery plant. They tested everything and everywhere: they swabbed under door mats, inside drains, behind doors, behind sinks, and all other surfaces. In total they took about 200 samples, and each was labeled for the location that it was taken. It was a massive search effort to find pathogens.

The team at OPDC had previously attended FDA FSMA training in 2018 and had already written their food safety plan for the FDA. They also had their RAWMI Risk Assessment and Management Plan and years of testing data to back it all up.

A couple weeks after the FDA inspection, OPDC received a report indicating that the FDA had found NO pathogens in any of their tests.

OPDC credits the environmental conditions inside of their dairy and creamery for the absence of pathogens. Aggressive beneficial cultures from the production of raw kefir, raw cheeses, and cultured butter populate the environment in the creamery, thereby displacing and outcompeting pathogenic bacteria. Thus, the creamery has its own facility biome and strong immune system!

In pasteurized dairy plants and creameries, pathogens are a real problem because sterility is the goal. Instead of using a system where beneficial bacteria outcompete pathogens, death to all bacteria is the goal. These attempts at a sterile environment encourage resistant forms of bacteria and pathogens to develop, as they adapt and overcome sanitizers and heat. However, just as is the case within the human gut, the presence of beneficial bacteria which can outcompete the pathogens is ideal. Of course, raw creameries should be clean, but they will also benefit from having beneficial bacteria which help prevent pathogenic bacteria from taking hold in the overall environment.

Importance of Methodology and Statistics in Challenging Canada’s Prohibition of Access to Raw Milk

The case challenging Canada’s prohibition of access to raw milk continued September 16-18 in Toronto. This case was brought forward by petitioners for Glencolton Farm.  Two experts, a regulatory authority for the Canadian government and an emeritus professor in dairy science, were cross examined by the attorney for Glencolton, with assistance from microbial risk assessor and former RAWMI board member Peg Coleman.

As noted in the May 2019 Ripple, RAWMI supported work by independent statistician Dr. Nick Azzolina which confirmed not only that there is no significant increase in outbreak rates with increasing access to raw milk, but also no increase in rates of illness or hospitalizations. With additional support from the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) through the SRA Whole Truth, Whole Milk Campaign, Dr. Azzolina and Peg prepared a technical manuscript recently submitted to the prestigious journal Risk Analysis that includes more context and additional results for rates of illness and hospitalizations over time. For the Toronto case, this high level statistical analysis in both a report and a manuscript submitted for peer-review is directly applicable. Because of this work, expert witnesses for the Canadian government and others cannot make speculations about increasing raw milk outbreaks and illnesses without admitting that their views are based on opinion or flawed studies that are not based on a valid statistical analysis of data.

Other important questions arose in Toronto at last week’s cross examinations by the attorney for the Glencolton Farm petitioners, many regarding methodology for risk/benefit analysis. In cross examination, the experts attempted to dismiss all studies demonstrating benefits on the grounds that the mechanisms of benefit were not fully known. However, their dubious reasoning was challenged on the basis that risk predictions are also highly uncertain, and the mechanisms causing one person to develop illness and another to remain healthy are only partially understood. The reality is that uncertainties exist for predicting benefits as well as predicting risks, and formal methods are available for unbiased assessments.

It has been documented by Loss et al. (2015) that there is a significantly lower risk for children consuming raw versus pasteurized milk for monitored health outcomes including respiratory illnesses, fever and diarrhea. That same year, McCarthy and colleagues (2015) determined that pasteurized milk has unintended adverse consequences for immune system development linked to higher risks for allergy and inflammation than determined for raw milk. The advances of knowledge for raw milk benefits and risks, and their mechanisms, are the subject of another manuscript in preparation through the Whole Truth, Whole Milk Campaign. Thanks to WAPF, RAWMI, and other donors for supporting such rigorous independent analysis using well-described methodologies essential for peer-review, thereby strengthening the scientific basis for future decisions about raw milk in Canada, the US, and around the world.

The Battle for Butter

After years of waiting for the FDA to respond to a formally submitted “Citizen Petition”, there is now an exciting food fight finish on the horizon! Years ago, the FDA denied a Citizen Petition to legalize access to raw milk on a national level and to allow raw milk to be sold across state lines.  The FDA's letter of denial was lacking in scientific basis; it denied peer-reviewed literature that was published through the National Institutes of Health, and even denied that the European PARSIFAL study related to raw milk. The PARSIFAL study of over 14,000 children found that there was a statistically-significant lower rate of allergies, eczema, and asthma in kids who were raised in a farm environment and consumed raw milk. Yet the FDA insisted that “farm fresh milk" was not raw milk!

Additional EU studies followed after PARSIFAL and confirmed the findings. Raw milk is a powerful immune system building food. The FDA refused to accept any of this data even though it was PUBMED published and peer reviewed.  The FDA position clearly indicated their bias against raw milk, so a different approach was needed to increase consumer access to raw dairy products.

Together with the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a third FDA Citizen Petition was submitted in 2015. This petition was about legalization of the shipment and sale of raw butter across state lines. Instead of taking down the whole raw dairy wall, we decided to focus on the weakest brick in the wall: RAW BUTTER! The rest of the bricks would come tumbling down later, after RAWMI had done its work to make raw milk very low risk and safe.

Raw butter is an exceptionally nutritious food. For instance, the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is found in the butter fat membrane that covers fat globules. ALP decreases inflammation in the body; it is associated with good health and less chronic illness, such as cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes. Raw milk has 4% butter fat, but raw butter contains 86% fat and thus it is very high in alkaline phosphatase.  ALP enzyme is destroyed by pasteurization. Americans are being denied access to raw butter which is a very powerful anti-inflammatory food, meanwhile we are suffering from more chronic illness!

Butter's low moisture, low pH levels, high fat content and salt levels inhibit pathogen growth and the FDA science concurs with this argument. Raw butter has had a near perfect track record of zero illnesses and no deaths for 60 years. The FDA is supposed to respond to Citizen Petitions within 180 days, but the Raw Butter Petition has had no response from the FDA for more than 3 years.

Now, RAWMI and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund are taking raw butter into the federal court system to force the FDA to respond and address each of the petition demands. The FDA should have no rational or reasonable basis for argument against raw butter and its legal access by all Americans. The courts should side with the facts and order the FDA to start regulating raw butter the way they regulate 60-day aged raw cheese, allowing it to pass freely all over America.

Additionally, RAWMI has been actively involved with working towards a change of Pennsylvania state law to allow raw butter to be produced and sold in Pennsylvania. According to those involved in the project, the new law appears to have broad support and will likely pass into law next year. 

Safe raw milk makes ultra-safe raw butter with powerful health benefits. We are looking forward to this food fight and the positive Ripple effect is can have on all the other raw dairy products. We're taking it one step at a time as we inch closer and closer to our vision of universal access to safe, low risk raw dairy products for all people.

RAWMI Training  

RAWMI will be providing a 3.5 hour presentation on raw milk risk management at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) conference. This conference is February 5-8, 2020 in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Mark McAfee, Sarah Smith, Dr. Joseph Heckman, and Edwin Shank will be presenting at this event.

RAWMI will be providing a 2 hour presentation on raw milk risk management at the Utah Farm and Food Conference on February 9, 2020. This conference is in Cedar City, Utah. Mark McAfee will be presenting at this event.

RAWMI has applied to present at several other upcoming conferences. RAWMI is also working on a web-based version of the raw milk risk management training, for farmers and others who aren't able to attend training in-person.

Take care all of you RAWMI producers, consumers and all of you interested in raw milk!

For Raw Milk Production, Training Really Matters

The following letter was published in the Lancaster Farming newspaper on May 4, 2019.

In the United States, based on extrapolated data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, it is estimated that about 12 million people drink raw milk regularly.  In Europe raw milk is commonly sold by dairy farmers from vending machines.

A previous letter in Lancaster Farming declared that the “Raw Milk Movement Has Great Potential”.  At the Raw Milk Institute, we agree but we believe that training really matters.

Fresh unprocessed raw drinking milk is a uniquely different food from both commodity raw milk produced for shipment to the processing plant and milk after it has been pasteurized and homogenized. Fresh unprocessed milk therefore requires a highly specialized production process and an entirely different set of practices. 

The Raw Milk Institute was designed to provide such training, and the latest research suggests that our efforts are having a positive impact.   

A recent study notes that the frequency of outbreaks associated with unpasteurized milk has declined significantly since 2010.  This is remarkable since, during that same period, legal distribution and the number of consumers have both been steadily increasing. This particular study by Whitehead and Lake (Recent Trends in Unpasteurized Fluid Milk Outbreaks, Legalization, and Consumption in the United States) concluded that, “Controlling for growth in population and consumption, the outbreak rate has effectively decreased by 74% since 2005.”  The study suggests that the improving food safety record is the result of expanding safety training for raw milk dairy producers.

In 2014, The Raw Milk Institute collaborated with Penn State University and PASA to organize and teach a raw milk producers workshop.  More workshops are being planned.

With freedom to sell raw milk comes responsibility.  The careful production of raw drinking milk requires dedicated dairy farmers who are proud of their product and do their very best every day to monitor production, milking and processing systems effectively. The Raw Milk Institute is ready to provide consultation and training of responsible raw milk producers across the USA, Europe, and Canada.  Contact the Institute for more information.

--Mark McAfee, Sarah Smith, Sylvia Onusic, Peg Coleman, and Joseph Heckman

Raw Milk Institute Board Members

RAWMI Ripple - May 2019

May 2019 Edition

Dear Friend,

Congratulations to Jewel Hill Farms in Marshall, North Carolina for becoming the 18th RAWMI Listed dairy! Jewel Hill Farms is a herdshare dairy, following in the path of The Family Cow dairy in having their own on-farm laboratory to test their milk for coliforms and Standard plate count. Welcome to the RAWMI family!  

Jewel Hill Farms is on the web at: www.facebook.com/JewelHillFarms/

New RAWMI Website

RAWMI has a new, streamlined website!  Our new site features a simpler menu, easy access to loads of great information, and lots of gorgeous photos from RAWMI Listed farms.

Explore the new website here: www.rawmilkinstitute.org

RAWMI Listed Farmers Zoom Meeting

RAWMI hosted its first ZOOM video conference with Listed Farmers on April 22, 2019. This meeting allowed the Listed Farmers to meet each other and the new RAWMI Board. We are a community that helps one another through mentoring and support, and this meeting was one more step in building bridges in the raw milk community of Listed Farmers. 

Eight Listed Farmers from all around North America attended the meeting. The Listed Farmers provided feedback to RAWMI on how we can best support them going forward, and they exchanged information about a variety of topics including increased cheese yields and the need for support to legalize the sale of raw butter across state lines.  RAWMI now plans to host meetings with Listed Farmers on a quarterly basis.

RAWMI Support for Statistical Rigor in Toronto Case

This spring, the RAWMI board took a bold step to advance our research mission for raw milk: we funded an independent statistical re-analysis of a US dataset for raw milk outbreaks from the CDC! An epidemiological expert on the pro-pasteurization side motivated this RAWMI commitment when she criticized the methodology for the Whitehead and Lake study (summarized in the last issue of Ripple) as part of the raw milk case in the Toronto courts.

You may know that supporters of Michael Schmidt and Glencolton Farm are challenging Canada’s prohibition of raw milk. You may not know that one of our RAWMI board members (Peg Coleman) is serving as an expert on benefits (and risks) of raw milk in this case. RAWMI funded the statistical re-analysis using different methods (graphical analyses and Poisson regression) to test the CDC hypothesis that as access to raw milk increased, outbreaks would increase. The statistician confirmed not only that there is no significant increase in outbreak rates with increasing access to raw milk, but also no increase in rates of illness or hospitalizations. RAWMI’s commitment to support independent statistical analysis helped prevent this key study by Whitehead and Lake from being excluded in the courts.

One of the figures on outbreak rates by state from the re-analysis is provided below. The RAWMI board intends to continue this statistical work as funding becomes available so that this unbiased analysis can be submitted for publication. Donations to RAWMI can support our continuing challenges to the myth that raw milk is inherently dangerous.

Figure 1. State-level scatterplots of raw milk-related outbreak incidence rates (outbreaks/1MM) on the y-axis as a function of time (year) on the x-axis. The y-axis has been scaled to account for episodic “spikes” in the incidence rate that occurred in some states (e.g., Alaska, Vermont).

Dr Mercola and Raw Milk

Dr Mercola comes out strong in support of safe raw milk in his recent article, Why Is Raw Milk Illegal? Mercola makes a compelling argument that raw milk is a uniquely healthy food that has huge benefits to the consumers, the environment, and even the cows. RAWMI's training programs and Common Standards are cited in this article as an example of how raw milk can be produced safely.

Mercola's article also provided a link to RAWMI Listed Farmers.  Listed farmers are an amazing resource for their dedication to safety and the health of their consumers. Together, we can change the public perception about raw milk, so that more people can benefit from this amazing food. 

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation Grant

Great news!! As a non-profit organization, RAWMI relies on donations to do our work.  RAWMI is also actively pursuing grant opportunities in order to help us achieve our mission.  In April 2019, RAWMI was awarded a $50k grant from the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation.

This grant will allow us to promote the RAWMI mission on the four projects described briefly below, including training for farmers and consumers about the production of healthy, safe raw milk.

• Project 1: Collaborate in detailed statistical analysis and publication of RAWMI “case studies” with further documentation of the “RAWMI Effect”. This research capitalizes on our data base of compelling test data with professional analysis by respected PhD researchers.

• Project 2: Create raw milk continuing educational materials for farmers on benefits and risk reduction practices.

• Project 3: Create raw milk continuing educational materials for customers on benefits and risk.

• Project 4: Continue to mentor farmers with training on RAWMI Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) food safety systems.

Update on CibusDX 30-Minute “On the Farm” Pathogen Tests

In the previous edition of the RAWMI Ripple, we were excited to announce the development of the CibusDX 30-minute on-site pathogen detection technology. Recently, RAWMI Chairman Mark McAfee met with the folks from CibusDX to learn more about this up-and-coming technology. It turns out that the technology for testing Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, and Salmonella is still under development, and will likely not be available this year.  RAWMI looks forward to future implementation of this technology as an additional confirmation step in the production of safe raw milk.

Pasteurized vs. Raw Breastmilk for Pre-Term Infants

A recent pilot study by Sun and colleagues (2019) has shown that feeding pre-term infants fresh raw breastmilk decreased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, mortality, sepsis, retinopathy of prematurity, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, even with just one fresh breastmilk feed per day!

The current norm for feeding pre-term infants is to use frozen or pasteurized donor breast milk, yet this study found that 88% of the mothers were able to provide at least one feed of fresh milk per day. Feeding pre-term infants raw breastmilk is an excellent step towards giving these vulnerable babies the best chance of a healthy start.

This is not the first study to demonstrate benefits of raw human breastmilk over pasteurized donor milk. The list below documents an extensive body of evidence from studies conducted in NICUs around the world that consistently demonstrate health benefits for fresh raw breastmilk over pasteurized donor milk or formula for preterm and low birth weight infants.

• Sun et al., 2019:                             207 infants (China)

• Squires, 2017:                                 302 infants (US, WA)

• Cossey et al., 2013:                       303 infants (Belgium)

• Strand et al., 2012:                        335 infants and toddlers (Nepal)

• Montjaux-Regis et al., 2011:       55 infants (France)

• Schanler et al., 2005:                    243 infants (US, TX)

• Narayanan et al., 1984:               226 infants (India)

The RAWMI board is concerned that breast milk donor banks need to update their risk assessments and start considering the balance of possible risks of potential pathogens with clear benefits of the natural microbiota of milks. Can you assist RAWMI in getting the word out to moms that breast milk donor banks routinely pasteurize donor milk, thus providing suboptimal benefits to our most vulnerable infants?

Raw Milk Poll

Lancaster Farming, a leading Northeast and Mid-Atlantic farm newspaper, conducted a poll in early March. The question was, "How do you feel about raw milk?" 97.4% of poll participants responded that raw milk is "a healthful product and farmers should be allowed to sell it if they want to." Only 0.8% of respondents answered that, "All milk should be pasteurized." Public opinion of raw milk is changing, as more people realize the value of this nutrient-dense food!

Huge Win For Raw Milk in California!

Misinformed inspectors from the San Bernadino County Department of Environmental Health were notifying stores that the sale of raw milk was illegal. In fact, the code is clear that raw milk is legal under both local code 33.0502 and State Food and Ag Code Div 15 Title 3. The inspectors were incorrectly directing stores to pull raw milk off the shelves.

RAWMI Chairman Mark McAfee worked together with folks from Sprout's and Clark’s Nutrition to better understand the code, and later Mark was able to get permission to talk for 3 minutes during a meeting of the San Bernadino County Board of Supervisors.

The Board of Supervisors agreed to uphold their current code, which does allow for raw milk. Furthermore, the Board voted to clarify their county code to make it more obviously align with the state regulations that allow for the 100% legal sale of raw milk! This will help ensure that there is no confusion about the legality of raw milk in the future.

Raw milk is secure in San Bernadino County!

Take care all of you RAWMI producers, consumers and all of you interested in raw milk!

Past Editions of RAWMI Ripple

The Ripple, the Raw Milk Institute’s newsletter, is a great source of information on what is happening in the world of raw milk. Here are links to past editions of the Ripple.

RAWMI Ripple - February 2019

RAWMI Ripple - October 2018

RAWMI Ripple - April 2018

RAWMI Ripple - December 2017

RAWMI Ripple - October 2017

A Brand New Look!

Our Board and team are excited the share with you this brand new website design and layout! As time goes on, we will be publishing articles for you to stay informed and educated on the newest topics and updates!

New Feature

Find Raw Milk Near You

What is New

Throughout the website, you will notice all new pictures of our listed farmers. These pictures are a beautiful combination of many of the active farmers. This new and fresh start is very exciting to our organization and we look forward to even more outreach and connection this year.