Sale of unpasteurized milk products may be legal in 30 states in the U.S. but a group of pediatricians says that consumption of raw or unpasteurized milk poses health hazards to children and pregnant women.
A new policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that pregnant women, babies and children should not drink raw milk. The statement, which was published in Pediatrics, says that harmful bacteria have been found in raw milk products, including Listeria, Salmonella, Escherichia coli and Cryptosporidium. It also said that raw milk and milk products are particularly dangerous to pregnant women, fetuses, the elderly, young children and people who have compromised immune systems.
Because of infection risks, the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases and Committee on Nutrition recommend a ban in sale of unpasteurized milk, cheese and related products in the US.
The popularity of raw milk and raw milk products grew in recent years partly because of claims of health benefits but those claims have not been backed up by science.
"We have no scientific evidence that consuming raw milk provides any advantages over pasteurized milk and milk products," said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine and lead author of the AAP report. "But relative to the amount of raw-milk products on the market, we do see a disproportionately large number of diseases and illnesses from raw milk."
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 148 disease outbreaks associated with consumption of raw milk and raw milk products from 1998 to 2011 which resulted in 2,384 illnesses, 284 hospitalizations and 2 deaths.
Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, chief of Neonatology at Georgia Regent University in Augusta also says that there are no proven nutritional advantages to consuming raw milk and no reason at all to risk consuming raw milk.
"Contamination during milking or storage or milking from cows that may be diseased, exposes the consumer to severe and life-threatening illnesses such as miscarriage and still births in pregnant women, meningitis and blood infections in both young infants and pregnant women," Bhatia said.
