By Susanne Rust
For more than 160 years, pasteurization has been heralded as one of the most effective and efficient forms of ensuring public food safety. But as health officials scramble to ascertain and contain the spread of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cattle, a growing number of state governments are turning their back on this gold standard of public health.
In the last four weeks, Iowa, Louisiana and Delaware have either passed legislation or are in the process of moving bills that would legalize the commercial sale of raw milk for human consumption within their borders.
The commercial sale of raw milk in California is legal, although not all stores choose to sell it.
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State lawmakers pushing for raw milk access say they are more concerned about “food freedom” and the potential benefits that would come to dairy farmers — i.e., being able to charge more money for their product — than a problem they don’t see discussed in the news.
“There is very real evidence to say that this space is safe… and I haven’t seen those deaths… across folks that use raw milk,” said Delaware state Sen. Eric Buckson, who was the author of a bill that would allow consumers to purchase raw milk from farms. “Certainly, there are those that can get an upset stomach or get sick from it. They recover rather quickly from it.”
Because of uncertainty about how widespread the infection is within U.S. dairy herds, and the announcement of the third human case of H5N1 earlier this week, officials are warning people to avoid raw milk and products made from raw milk.
Buckson, the Delaware lawmaker, said he understands the concern, but when he looks around, “we know that 30-plus states actively permit the use of raw milk, and we do not have a pervasive breakout or outbreak of avian influenza,” he said.
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