Catherine Rusoff
On May 7, health influencer Paul Saladino, MD. posted a video on his X account that promoted feeding babies “raw dairy.” The post received more than 90,000 views and generated strong reaction before being removed the next day. Saladin regularly advocates “animal-based” diets with raw milkincluding on his TikTok channel, where he has more than half a million followers.
Interest in raw milk is rising in the US, fueled by both “welfare” and conservative influencers on social media. Posts promoting unpasteurized dairy have racked up millions of views, and celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow praised the supposed benefits.
But health authorities have long warned against consuming raw dairy products because they can harbor germs that pose serious health risks. O American Academy of Pediatrics warns that babies, children and pregnant women are at greater risk of illness from dairy products that have not been pasteurized – a process that uses heat to kill dangerous organisms.
“Do not consume unpasteurized dairy products,” Dr. Nidhi Kumar recently told CBS New York. “I know there are people who are real advocates for this, but this is not the time to do it.”
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stepped up their warnings following outbreaks of H5N1 or bird flustarted spreading across dairy farms in several US states this spring.
High concentrations of the virus was found in raw milk from infected herds, and authorities have warned people to avoid milk that has not been commercially processed. Test confirms pasteurization kills the virusand the FDA says the commercial supply of milk is safe.
What’s behind the growing popularity of raw milk?
Americans consumed raw milk until the late 19th century, when pasteurization became common practice. At that time, it caused hundreds of outbreaks of tuberculosis and bacterial infections, researchers say. Several states began requiring pasteurization and the US federal government ended banned interstate sales of unpasteurized milk in the late 1980s. Some states prohibit its sale.
Even so, the product has maintained its popularity among a relatively small number of Americans. About 4.4% of Americans reported consuming raw milk in the past FDA research, which combined research from 2016 and 2019.
But in recent years, raw milk has had a bit of a resurgence. Legislators in six states have legalized their sale since 2020, pushing the total number of states in which the sale of raw milk is legal for over 30, although some only allow it to be sold on farms. Americans can buy unpasteurized milk in conservative and liberal states – at markets in Georgia and high-end grocery stores as Erewhon In California. Google trends data shows a steady increase in searches for the product.
The increasing legalization of unpasteurized dairy products has coincided with a decline in confidence in the CDC’s public health advice since the coronavirus pandemicwhat was noticed in surveys and polls. The trend also aligned with global growth in organic food industry.
At the same time, influencers on social media have claimed that raw milk provides health benefits that are lost in the pasteurization process – something scientists and public health officials compete strongly. Saladino, who posted the video advocating raw milk for babies, did not respond to a request from CBS News for comment on why his post was removed. Several other videos on his account promote the consumption of raw milk, including one that shows a child drinking raw milk from a bucket.
TikTok videos promoting raw milk received millions of views last year, prompting some prominent doctors and content creators like Hank Greene to create videos to combat the misinformation they saw spreading about the product.
On Facebook, data from social monitoring platform CrowdTangle shows that the most popular posts about “raw milk” in the last year referred favorably to the product. And on Truth Social — a platform founded by former President Donald Trump — users disparaged recent reports about animals dying after drinking raw dairy from infected cows, in posts with thousands of likes.
What is the current guidance on raw milk from public health authorities?
The FDA and CDC strongly advise against the consumption or sale of raw milk or raw dairy products, warning that “it can carry dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter and others that cause food-borne illnesses.”
“Raw milk can be contaminated with harmful germs that can make you very sick,” says the CDC.
The FDA also debunked what it calls “milk myths,” including the false claim that pasteurization kills the nutritional value of milk or that it causes lactose intolerance or allergic reactions.
Authorities have renewed warnings to consumers in recent weeks. An outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows was first reported in late March, and researchers still don’t know whether humans can contract bird flu from drinking raw, unpasteurized milk from infected cows.
The federal government has not banned the sale of milk from infected herds, but authorities have advised farmers not to sell milk from infected cattle. They also recommended that milk from exposed asymptomatic cows be pasteurized before being sold or fed to animals.
FDA Tests showed that the pasteurization process is effective in inactivating the virus. The agency continually tests samples of the U.S. milk supply to ensure that pasteurized milk sold in supermarkets is safe for consumption.
What do we know about raw milk’s link to bird flu?
The FDA found high viral loads of H5N1 bird flu in raw milk from some of the infected herds, located in nine US states. The United States Department of Agriculture he said Tests indicate that the disease may be spreading across dairy farms as healthy cows come into contact with raw milk from infected cows. But authorities are still studying to determine exactly how the virus moves.
Some cats died after drinking raw milk of cows infected with H5N1, according to a report published in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
So far, a Texas farmworker is the just people in the US, currently known to have contracted the virus after exposure to infected cows. His case was mild and presented as conjunctivitis. Authorities have not publicly reported how the transmission occurred.
The CDC has he said The bird flu virus currently poses a “low risk to the general public” — but the agency also said H5N1 has “potential of the pandemic.” Health officials say they are working to prepare for the possibility of a bird flu outbreak in humans.
“Unless you are in close contact with potentially infected animals or are drinking unpasteurized milk, the risk to you right now is very low,” said CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.
“But remember, things can change,” he added, “especially with viruses… they can mutate, they can change, we’ve seen that happen. And that’s why there’s so much concern among public health officials and others, and why the CDC and others are really trying to get on top of this.”
–Rhona Tarrant contributed reporting.
