What are the risks of raw milk? Experts warn of increased chances of infection, illness

Despite the warnings of experts, there are growing conversations around the supposed benefits of raw milk.

Raw milk, also known as unpasteurized milk, is milk that has not undergone the pasteurization heating process that eliminates harmful microorganisms like bacteria and viruses.

Public figures — including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's nomination for health secretary — are advocating that people consume raw milk. They argue that unpasteurized milk has health benefits compared to pasteurized milk. 

Microbiologists, however, say the evidence clearly shows drinking unpasteurized milk is far riskier and may lead to harmful outcomes.

Last month, raw milk sold by a California farm was recalled after avian flu virus was found in multiple samples.

The product's distribution has been suspended, and health officials say no known cases of bird flu virus have been confirmed in people who drank the raw milk.

"Data really shows that people should not be consuming raw milk," Lawrence Goodridge, a food safety professor at the University of Guelph, told The Dose's Dr. Brian Goldman. 

Pasteurization, developed by French chemist Louis Pasteur in the mid-1860s, is a process by which liquids are heated to eliminate harmful pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, while retaining the liquid's nutritional quality. 

In Pasteur's case, the chemist was attempting to pasteurize wine by heating it between 60 C and 100 C. 

For milk to be pasteurized, it must be heated to 63 C for 30 minutes, or 72 C for 15 seconds. 

Toronto was the first city in Canada to mandate pasteurization in 1914. 

Pasteurization was made mandatory by Health Canada in 1991, and it is illegal to distribute or sell raw milk in Canada. Canada is the only G7 nation that bans the purchase and sale of raw milk. 

Butter and cheese made from unpasteurized milk is allowed to be sold, so long as the products have been aged a minimum of 60 days.

Consuming raw milk raises the risk of coming into contact with harmful bacteria — like E. coli, Listeria, salmonella and campylobacter — as well as viruses like H5N1, better known as bird flu, says McGill associate professor Jennifer Ronholm.