Agree 100%. I have little use for milk, raw or otherwise, but I want young raw-milk cheese! We just had a contamination incident at a raw milk dairy here in Colorado that sickened 25 people, so we've been hearing about the dangers of unpasteurized milk. Of course, they never compare the numbers to those made ill by processed foods. Either way, it should be up to the consumer to decide. Here in Colorado, you can get raw milk if you are willing to buy a share in a cow.

Honestly?

If it were about keeping people safe they would ban cigarettes and other tobacco products entirely and stringently regulate alcohol consumption.

They finally made it legal in PA. I was drinking it until I found out I was pregnant. I'll drink it again in a year or so, I bet I can find it in my new home.

I recently found a lovely little dairy within just a few miles of my home that sells gorgeous unpasteurized milk. Unfortunately, it was about that time I discovered that milk and my stomach don't coexist in harmony.....but I fear for those who need it, or just want it and are old enough to make that decision for themselves. There are some people who react so badly to pasteurized and/or homogenized milk that they will have to give milk up entirely if this option is taken away from them. STOP this nonsense!

The quote about "making sure people are safe," doesn't pass the giggle test. This is all about the dairy industry protecting itself against competition from those who want to supply what at least some of the people really want. Restriction of competition is always bad for consumers. HOW is this government's business?

If it was about "keeping people safe" they would ban people. Even organic straight-edge vegans get infections and have accidents.

I will happily support the hippies and their unpasturized milk, if they'll support me when the government comes to take away my salt shaker.

Notice in the article they say it (pasteurization) is for "safety and fairness". Ahh, here we go with legislating fairness again....

Wow, the video makes it look like the officers are busting a meth lab. This might not be far from the truth, though. People who drink raw milk or don't wear seatbelts or helmets are usually meth fiends, from what I've heard.

Agreed Dave. Add in sugar, fast food, free speech, guns, etc.. :)

I don't drink milk anymore myself and minimize dairy stuff. I still eat cheese here and there but no more milk/cereal or yogurt.

Seatbelt laws are not about safety. Never have been. It has been all about another fine to make money off the drones.

I grew up in the 80s/90s hearing all about the greatness of seatbelts. The social engineering (and facts/evidence) did a good job. Unfortunately, we now have to have our cars beep at us to buckle up (thanks feds) and are threatened with "click it or ticket". You have 2+ generations who firmly believe in using belts for safety, why do you have to make it a fine? Its all about control and making money for the state.

Do I really need to wear my belt as I drive on private property (or even public) while going 5mph because I'm going to stop and get out in 20 seconds and unload my truck at a storage shed? Heaven forbid I need to just move my car out of the way for someone parked in front of me. Buckle up!

I drink raw milk and I'm not a meth-head.

Laws like this piss me off! I drink raw cow milk and it's great. I live in Oregon where is is sort of legal but with the rules attached, next to impossible to find. To sell raw milk you xan have no more than 3 cows, must sell it directly on the farm, and cannot advertise you sell it. It was purely by chance that I found someone a few miles from me that sells it. Otherwise, I'd drive 90 minutes one way up to a place in Washington where I could easily buy it. I've evaluated the pros and cons of raw milk and have decided the minimal risks don't outweigh the benefits for me. Also worth noting is that infectious E. coli is not found in the milk or meat from cows that are grass fed, only grain fed, which is not their natural diet. Salmonella is extremely rare, even when chickens are kept on the same farm. Listeria is extremely rare as well. I'm not concerned that my milk will make me seriously ill. I feel the odds are less than the chances from me going to work (hospital). The government should worry about more important things than raw milk!!

NicoleK, raw milk is okay to drink during pregnancy (and I have) although it's controversial and considered taboo by mainstream advice. Of course, pretty much everything is deemed unsafe during pregnancy and it appears the only safe options for pregnant women are to be packed in bubble wrap and fed through an IV! A friend of mine is an MD and also naturopathic physician and she advocates raw milk as safe and beneficial.

"I drink raw milk and I'm not a meth-head". I'll be damned; I'm glad you quit using meth. That's a joke, that's a joke! I'm sorry, meth can be horribly corrosive to the spirit of well-being, and it is no joke. Raw milk, on the other hand, should not require raids from the district attorney's office. Tattoo parlors deserve closer scrutiny, though.

That's a joke

I know! But my comment was a little weird; as if it's either/or.

What's next, prohibiting homemade preserves? I make my own jams, preserves, relishes, etc.; I find they taste better, and they don't include all the processed crap that store-bought stuff does. (Plus I enjoy the process, but perhaps that's my inner Mary Ingalls coming through.)

Yes, every once in a while, a jar will get contaminated. Please don't tell the Feds; I don't want them kicking in my door and taking away my mason jars.

Have you heard that the government wants to know our BMI numbers now? And apparently, doctors aren't really sure that the BMI numbers are that much to be relied on - apparently there are cases where BMI doesn't really help determine fitness.

What's next? Are they going to increase taxes for people whose BMI's are too high?

My main concern with products that might be hazardous is to have good warning labels on them. But if this is such a big deal, why don't they make people put warning lables on products with MSG? Some people have serious allergies to the stuff, and it's not healthy anyway.

The thing I like about the seat belt law is that it gives me a great excuse for insisting that people use them if I'm driving.

Raw milk is the bomb. Here in TX, it's legal, but the cows have to be tested for TB among other things daily. I'm quite certain it's safer than store-bought, and MAN does it taste good. It's an awakening.

Raw goats milk is fantastic for babies with severe eczema. Clears it right up. I actually have a nearish neighbor here in my ultra-suburbia neighborhood with a goat in her backyard, for the raw milk. No one's squealing to the HOA because it's for her baby.

BMI is a big fat bunch of crap. A really muscular person and an obese person can have the same number. Also, people on the high-normal/low-overweight section of the scale have the best longevity and survival rates of most any illness.

Agreed. Even though goat milk is gross. So is quiche, and we don't outlaw that.

The USDA, Ohio, and the Amish had a battle royal a few years ago over milk storage.

The Amish would put the milk in stainless steel containers and store it in fresh water spring "cisterns". Essentially a constant 57 degrees. The intent was the milk would eventually be used for cheese.

The USDA and Ohio were saying that it was dangerous to store raw milk at those temperatures. I think they finally backed off -- but it is ridiculous.

And if you google raw milk amish PA you have horror stories about SWAT raids on farmers in PA.

What's that? You're losing your natural foods cuz the gubmint says they're not safe?

Too bad for you. I'd help you out but you said nothing when they went after my cigarettes. In fact, you cheered when they did so. So you're on your own. Enjoy the tyranny.

all this and everybody dies anyway. Can we sue the government for malpractice?

I always get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I read about a car accident in which someone died in a fire because they wore their seat belt and became trapped in the flaming wreckage.

But DAMMIT, SEAT BELTS ALWAYS SAVE FUCKING LIVES! EVERY GOD DAMN TIME!

I wish they would severely limit and/or ban alcohol!

Man, I'd make a fortune bootlegging. I need the work!

Dack, you'll find few people here who favor the gov't outlawing your cigs. We just want you doing them where you aren't harming others.

There is a fun and prescient short story about this which was written in 1978:

http://billstclair.com/DoingFreedom/000623/df.0600.fa.lipidleggin.html

If smoking is so dangerous to others who are not smoking then shouldn't we have seen a massive amount of cancer deaths from people who were surrounded by smokers in the 19th century? And the 20th century? Shouldn't waitresses, bartenders, and the like back in the 70s & 80s, and even early 90s, have a very high rate of cancer and smoking related illnesses?

Do they?

I haven't seen any evidence that they do. Until I do see such evidence, I retain strong doubts about the supposed hazards of second hand smoke.