Letters: Raw milk has benefits

There are proven benefits to drinking raw milk, says a reader. Photo / 123RF

I read your article in the paper on March 20 concerning the consumption of raw milk.

Firstly, I have owned a house cow for about eight years and have successfully milked her and supplied my family with raw milk for this entire time.

What concerned me is the inaccuracies and bias in your article.

Firstly, you were very good at pointing out the alleged harm caused by raw milk but failed to mention anything about the benefits of raw milk on the digestive system.

But can't raw milk cause problems due to the risk of consuming bacteria you say and yes, but the risk of this happening is very, very low.

In fact, according to medical researcher Dr Ted Beals you are 35,000 times more likely to get sick from other foods than you are from raw milk.

The CDC in America reports that there are an estimated 48 million foodborne illnesses diagnosed each year. Of these 48 million illnesses, only about 42 (about 0.0005 per cent) each year are due to consumption of fresh, unprocessed (raw) milk.

Were you aware that raw milk is classed as a complete food.

This means it contains all the natural enzymes, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that our bodies require in a balanced diet.

Extensive studies have found that children who drink raw milk are 50 per cent less likely to develop allergies and 41 per cent less likely to develop asthma compared to children who don't.

A study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology involved 8000 children with various diets, and one of the conclusions that researchers made was that by drinking raw milk, children experienced "naturally immunising" effects.

As documented on the Real Milk website, many other studies carried out over the past century have shown that raw milk benefits and supports children's growth and development in other ways too, including increasing immunity against infections, boosting dental health and supporting skeletal growth, for example.

You also were incorrect in your method of pasteurising or scalding.

By boiling the milk you, in fact, denature the milk and therefore diminish any benefits from it.

Instead you need to bring the milk to 70°C for about 25 seconds and then cool quickly.

The pasteurising process is only complete when the milk is cooled quickly. It is the action of heating and cooling that kills the bacteria present.

If you would like to further investigate the benefits of raw milk I have included a link — draxe.com/raw-milk-benefits/

JULIE HOPKINS
Te Pahu

Editor's note: Thank you for your letter and the points you make. In it you refer to 'you' — being me — and 'inaccuracies and bias' — but as was made clear, the information is from the Ministry for Primary Industries and not my own thoughts.

You are of course free to disagree with ministry guidelines and recommendations, but of course they have a statutory role to offer best practice advice and implement rules and laws to ensure the safety of New Zealanders, and that is the information they were forwarding.

Dean Taylor