How healthy is it to drink raw milk?
The milk delivered by the milkman was "raw" or "unpasteurized" milk, but in recent years, changing customs, health legislation, and the growth of the dairy industry have caused it to gradually disappear, at least in large cities.
What is pasteurization?The Mexican Official Standard defines pasteurization as The heat treatment to which dairy products are subjected, consisting of a temperature and time ratio that guarantees the destruction of pathogenic organisms and the inactivation of some food enzymes.
Why be careful with raw milk?“Many people say, 'Milk is very fresh, it's straight from the cow and it's whole,' which is true, but people around the world are already accustomed to consuming a standardized product that has been modified to have the same percentage of fat, protein, and vitamins,” explains Francisco Monroy, a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
READ: The correct way to store tortillas so they don't harden“Furthermore, some bacteria that cause diseases in cows, such as brucellosis or tuberculosis, have already been killed in pasteurized milk, and others that can cause local problems in the udder, such as streptococcus, staphylococci, or possible fecal contamination that could contain salmonella or E. coli,” adds the food safety specialist. “That's why consuming raw milk isn't beneficial, because the bacteria may be alive there, with the risks that entails.”
Diseases caused by raw milkThe illnesses that can be acquired, he points out, can take months to develop and cause problems in different parts of the body, so it's sometimes difficult to detect that they were caused by drinking raw milk.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1993 and 2012, 127 outbreaks linked to raw milk and other dairy products such as ice cream, fresh cheese and yogurt were recorded in that country.
"They caused 1,909 illnesses and 144 hospitalizations. Most foodborne illnesses are not part of recognized outbreaks, and for every illness reported, many more occur," the agency reports.
About the tasteOne of the things that makes some people “miss” consuming raw milk is its flavor, which is due more to the treatment it undergoes than to other processes, such as the cows’ nutrition.
“Many people don't like raw milk because it comes in buckets and is often not packaged, It absorbs the smell of the stable, that is, of cow, or what is the same, of cow dung,” reveals Monroy.
You might be interested: How many calories does an enchilada usually have?Raw milk has a stronger, "barn-like" taste and smell, while pasteurized milk smells like milk, not cow's milk. It tastes sweet and has a particular consistency and flavor due to the process it undergoes, which, contrary to popular belief, never includes any extra ingredients.
"According to the Mexican Official Standard, milk must be exclusively the product of the cow's mammary gland, and some of its components can be modified, particularly fat (normally reduced to 3% or less for skimmed or ultra-pasteurized products) without adding anything; only centrifugation is used, because fat is the lightest component of milk," he explains.
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