Video: Pasteurization of the Milk Supply
May 27, 2026Real Milk Updates, Spring 2026
May 28, 2026By Sally Fallon Morell
“Raw milk is dangerous and provides no benefit over pasteurized.” Such is the mantra of health officials, both in the FDA and in individual states. They use these arguments to campaign against raw milk on the federal and state levels. But evidence is accruing that both statements are wrong.
Safety of Raw Milk
WAPF consultant Peg Coleman has compiled the data on illnesses from leafy greens and oysters (both foods typically consumed raw) along with raw and pasteurized milk for the years 2005-2020 (see Table 1). Leafy greens are definitely the main concern, with over 16,000 illnesses and 23 deaths— and this is a food we are encouraged to eat raw (in salads and smoothies). Where are the warnings that leafy greens should not be consumed for any reason or at any time? Where are efforts to remove dangerous leafy greens from stores and interstate commerce?
Note that there have been more illnesses and deaths from pasteurized milk than raw milk. Of course, one could argue that far more people consume pasteurized milk than raw milk, but the point is that pasteurization is no guarantee of safety. These numbers indicate that raw milk is safer than pasteurized, even though a great deal of raw milk is produced with no oversight.
Table 1. CDC data on burdens of illness for four foods associated with outbreaks from 2005-2020
| FOOD TYPE | PATHOGEN | ILLNESSES | DEATHS |
| Leafy Greens | Norovirus, E. Coli STEC, Cyclospora, Salmonella | 16,434 | 23 |
| Oysters | Norovirus, Vibrio, Campylobacter, E. coli STEC, Salmonella, Giardia, Hepatitis, Sapovirus, Staphylococcus | 2,408 | 2 |
| Pasteurized Milk | Campylobacter, Yersinia, Norovirus, Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, E. coli STEC, other hazards | 2,111 | 4 |
| Raw Milk | Campylobacter, E. Coli STEC, Salmonella, Cryptosporidium | 1,696 | 1* |
We believe that some of these deaths were wrongly attributed to a virus.
*Although the patient had an underlying medical condition, the cause of death was attributed to raw milk.
SOURCE: Revealing Raw Truths about Milk: Scientific Advances in Understanding the Health Impacts of the Milk Microbiota by D. Warner North and Margaret E. (Peg) Coleman
Destruction of Nutrients
We know a lot more today about what pasteurization does to the nutrients in milk. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and vitamin C are completely destroyed, while carrier proteins for folate, vitamins B12, A and D, and minerals such as iron and calcium are reduced or destroyed by heat treatment. This means that analyses may detect these nutrients in pasteurized milk, but they are assimilated only with great difficulty by the consumer, especially the infant (see Table 2). The data indicate that raw milk offers a package of complete nutrition that is readily available to the body, especially important for infants, growing children and individuals with intestinal absorption problems.
There is no question that pasteurized milk is not as nutritious as raw milk.
Table 2. Destruction of nutrient value and assimilation by pasteurization. Compiled by Sally Fallon Morell
| Vitamin C | Raw milk but not pasteurized can resolve scurvy. “Without doubt. . . the explosive increase in infantile scurvy during the latter part of the 19th century coincided with the advent of use of heated milks.” Rajakumar, Pediatrics. 2001;108(4):E76. |
| Calcium | Longer and denser bones on raw milk. realmilk.com/randleigh-farm/ |
| Folate | Carrier protein inactivated during pasteurization. Gregory, J Nutr. 1982;112(7)1329-1338. |
| Vitamin B12 | Binding protein inactivated by pasteurization. Ford et al., J Pediatr. 1977;90(1):29-35. |
| Vitamin B6 | Animal studies indicate B6 poorly absorbed from pasteurized milk. realmilk.com/randleigh-farm/ |
| Vitamin B2 | Completely destroyed with pasteurization. Macdonald et al., J Food Prot. 2011;74(11):1814-1832. |
| Vitamin A | Beta-lactoglobulin, a heat-sensitive protein in milk, increases intestinal absorption of vitamin A. Heat degrades vitamin A. Said et al., Am J Clin Nutr. 1989;49(4):690-694; Runge & Heger, J Agric Food Chem. 2000;48(1):47-55. |
| Vitamin D | Present in milk bound to lactoglobulins, pasteurization cuts assimilation in half. Hollis et al., J Nutr. 1981;111(7):1240-1248; Yang et al., FEBS J. 2009;276(8):2251-2265. |
| Iron | Lactoferrin, which contributes to iron assimilation, reduced during pasteurization. Children on pasteurized milk tend to anemia. Duran & Otalvaro, Nutr Hosp. 2023;40(3):633-640. |
| Minerals | Bound to proteins, inactivated by pasteurization. Lactobacilli, destroyed by pasteurization, enhance mineral absorption. Burrow et al., “Interactions of milk proteins with minerals,” Encyclopedia of Food Chemistry, Elsevier, 2019, pp. 395-403; Varvara & Vodnar, Food Chem X. 2023;21:101067. |
Health Benefits
Health officials are adamant that raw milk provides no health benefits over pasteurized. But evidence to the contrary is accumulating. Coleman has compiled thirteen studies showing that raw milk can protect against asthma, allergies, eczema, hay fever, milk allergies, gut microbiome disruption, lung problems and respiratory illness (see Table 3). The studies are all recent, dating from 2015 to 2023—countering the argument that studies showing benefits can be discounted because they are “old studies.” Four of the studies (author bolded) have U.S.
cohorts.
It should be noted that conditions like asthma and lung disease are life-threatening conditions. Asthma kills nine people per day in the U.S., many of them children. Raw milk provides definite protection against asthma and other serious lung problems—it is a life-saving food, not a life-threatening food. Other conditions, like eczema, hay fever, digestive disorders and frequent infections can make life miserable for a child. Raw milk helps protect against all of these illnesses.
The combination of safety, nutrient availability and protection against disease makes raw milk the perfect food for babies and growing children, something that “health” officials should be promoting with enthusiasm. These three tables can help change the debate, silence critics and usher in a new era of good health and happiness in the current generation.
Table 3. Thirteen peer-reviewed studies
These studies provide clinical evidence on benefits and risks of raw and pasteurized milks. The studies in bold are U.S. cohorts. From: Revealing Raw Truths about Milk: Scientific Advances in Understanding the Health Impacts of the Milk Microbiota by Margaret (Peg) Coleman and Warner North, Feb. 4, 2026.
acsh.org/news/2026/02/04/revealing-raw-truths-about-milk-scientific-advances-understanding-healthimpacts
| STUDY AUTHORS | TITLE |
| 1. Loss et al., 2015 | Consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk protects infants from common respiratory infections |
| 2. Brick et al., 2016 | Omega-3 fatty acids contribute to the asthma-protective effect of unprocessed cow’s milk |
| 3. House et al., 2017 | Early-life farm exposures and adult asthma and atopy in the Agricultural Lung Health Study |
| 4. Schröder et al., 2017 | A switch in regulatory T cells through farm exposure during immune maturation in childhood |
| 5. Muller-Rompa et al., 2018 | An approach to the asthma-protective farm effect by geocoding: Good farms and better farms |
| 6. Wyss et al., 2018 | Early-life farm exposures and eczema among adults in the Agricultural Lung Health Study |
| 7. Abbring et al., 2019 | Milk processing increases the allergenicity of cow’s milk—preclinical evidence supported by a human proof-of-concept provocation pilot |
| 8. Sozanska, 2019 | Raw cow’s milk and its protective effect on allergies and asthma |
| 9. Brick et al., 2020 | The beneficial effect of farm milk consumption on asthma, allergies, and infections: from meta-analysis of evidence to clinical trial |
| 10. Butler et al., 2020 | Recipe for a healthy gut: Intake of unpasteurised milk is associated with increased Lactobacillus abundance in the human gut microbiome |
| 11. Järvinen et al., 2022 | Biomarkers of development of immunity and allergic diseases in farming and non-farming lifestyle infants: design, methods and 1 year outcomes in the “Zooming in to Old Order Mennonites” Birth Cohort Study |
| 12. Wyss et al., 2022 | Early-life farm exposures and eczema among adults in the Agricultural Lung Health Study |
| 13. Pechlivanis et al., 2023 | Continuous rather than solely early farm exposure protects from hay fever development |
This article first appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation.
