🧀 Raw milk

Raw milk is milk not heated above 40 °C after milking or otherwise treated with the same effect, as defined by Regulation (EC) No 853/2004. It is sold on farms, at markets and from vending machines, and cheesemakers use it for many traditional cheeses. Its nutritional value is ordinary: according to USDA, 100 g of raw cow's milk contains 64 kcal, 3.3 g of protein, 3.7 g of fat and 119 mg of calcium.

The main difference from pasteurised milk is microbes. They come from a sick animal's udder, skin, bedding or equipment. EFSA names Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) as the main ones. In 2007–2013, EU countries recorded 27 outbreaks of illness caused by raw milk: 21 were due to Campylobacter and three to the tick-borne encephalitis virus. In the United States, the FDA has counted 143 outbreaks linked to raw milk and raw-milk products since 1987.

EU law requires milk to be cooled straight after milking: to 8 °C if it is collected daily, and to 6 °C if less often. Hygiene and cold only slow bacterial growth. The most reliable home method is boiling (EFSA); pasteurisation kills pathogens without significantly changing the nutritional value (FDA). During the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in US dairy cows, studies showed that the virus survived 60 days of ripening in raw-milk cheese, but not pasteurisation.

Raw milk differs from pasteurised milk in microbes, not in nutrition. Raw milk has not been heated above 40 °C, so it may carry Campylobacter, Salmonella and STEC, while pasteurisation kills pathogens without significantly changing the nutritional value (FDA). Boiling at home is the most reliable method (EFSA); hygiene and cold only slow bacterial growth. According to USDA, 100 g of raw cow's milk has 64 kcal, 3.3 g of protein and 119 mg of calcium, which is ordinary. Cheesemakers use raw milk for many traditional cheeses.

In the EU, bottles of raw milk carry the words “raw milk”, and cheese made without heat treatment says “made with raw milk”. Raw milk is sold on farms, at markets and from vending machines, and where vending machines are used, buyers are advised to boil it. Raw-milk cheeses sit at the cheese counter of supermarkets and delis or are sold straight from the dairy. Pasteurised milk stands in the chiller of the supermarket dairy aisle.

Why it matters to you. In the EU, raw milk bottles carry the words “raw milk”, and cheese made without heat treatment “made with raw milk”. EU countries may restrict or ban its sale; where milk is sold from vending machines, buyers are advised to boil it. The highest risk is for babies and children, pregnant women, older people and those with weakened immunity: they should choose pasteurised milk.