To me, that’s like saying that people should forgo seatbelts because street racing is far more dangerous.
Good point, but I’d argue that bulk tank milk is nowhere near as dangerous as many others as I see no deaths in those numbers. We’ve had two cases that I know of in WI. Both were events where raw milk as served.
I’d defy anyone to find a larger raw milk drinking community than Cashton, WI. No illnesses or deaths that I could find. I think kids raised on it are much healthier than those not. Of course, those are dairy farm kids and they’ve had it from day 1, and they work their asses off, and have no time for their hands to lay idle for long enough to become the devil’s workshop. It is part of our culture. Pass some laws , good luck stopping it. And why would anyone stop it?
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The world has changed a lot in 13 years.
Histrionics aside, where do you come down on the issue of raw oyster consumption? If the data I found are correct, it’s 50X more dangerous than raw milk consumption, on a par basis.
Are you as much concerned about the consumption of raw oysters as you are of raw milk?
And of course, I would never advocate people driving without seatbelts, but thanks for that strawman.
Again, risk/reward ratios matter. Raw shellfish being what it is, I don’t have my kids eat it until they’re adults, when they can choose their own path, although their grandfather is a huge fan.
I also don’t use raw milk, so I don’t really have a dog in this fight. But the fact is, raw shellfish is a heckuva lot more problematic (on a par basis, again) than raw milk so far.
Raw milk vs. raw seafood is an apples to oranges comparison.
People consume raw milk because they, incorrectly, perceive it as being healthier than pasteurized milk. Raw milk advocates tend to give raw milk to their children. Children are the most vulnerable to becoming seriously I’ll from consuming raw milk.
As I said previously, there are fewer people consuming raw milk than consuming raw shellfish so stating how many people became ill from consuming each is meaningless.
According to the documentary series, Rotten, the big draw for raw milk producers is profit. Dairy farms ate struggling as a result of consumers using less dairy. Raw milk sells for easily triple the price of pasteurized milk.
Anecdotally, every raw milk purveyor I’ve met has frightening beliefs. The owner of the Venice, CA store, Rawvoultion, told me that he believed Alex Jones views on the Sandy Hook mass shooting.
A family who sold raw milk at the farmers’ market believed that vaccinations were toxic.
No, it is not “meaningless” - not after I put it on a par consumption basis using the USDA survey data.
On a usage-par basis, shellfish is some 50X more dangerous than raw milk.
Show me the threads (plenty here and previously on CH regarding raw shellfish consumption) where you’ve railed against raw shellfish consumption, posting CDC or FDA warnings about shellfish consumption, please?
Otherwise, my original assessment stands. Raw milk consumption is by far (50X, again, on a par basis) less likely to cause illness and is infinitesimally less likely to cause death than is shellfish eating.
Oh, great. More histrionic sleaze-by-association crap. People who sell raw milk are Nazis. Got it.
Edit - with apologies to thread starter @Chemicalkinetics for going so far off tangent.
I know my very worst food poisoning/stomach flu is due to eating raw octopus. So much so now, I am now scared of eating it again. Logically, I know the chance that I will get sick again is low, but I do have this fear by association now.
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No, no. It is a good discussion I think. I also do not think it is off-topic.
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I find my memory for bad food run-ins is about 5-6 years. Lol
My worst was from an Army mess hall. I worked in the hospital lab at the time so I was able to draw my blood several times and chart the course as my WBC count went up and up and then finally down. Also, I spent a fair bit of time trying to track down the actual source, and it turned out to be a creamy pasta sauce based on about 50 replies. People who’d had one serving were mildly ill, two servings worse. I’d had 4 servings that night (I was a True Chow Hound at the time, eating easily 12K Calories per day).
Oh boy, was I sick. Started a few hours after I ate it and lasted for 2 more days. There was no one to cover for my work at the hospital so I just chugged a quart of water every hour and threw it back up. For 2 days.
Then I was fine. And 12 pounds lighter!
I was sick for 5-7 days (depends how we count it). Anything I ate, I would vomit back out in 10 min. Luckily I was able to finally consume thin soup and juice on Day 4. Yeah, I remember being about 10 pound lighter. Probably mostly water loss. Sound like I was sick longer, but you lost more weight in a shorter period of time.
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You like every 5-6 years you run into some food incident? Ouch. Do they tend to the same type of foods like raw squids? (now that I think about it more… it probably was raw squid, not raw octopus got me sick)
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Yes, but I think it was mostly water loss. I’ve always been a very sweaty guy, and drink tons of water, so I lose a lot just based on water.
OTOH, I’ve participated in weight loss contests (this is a “thing” in engineering departments) and won once by losing over 40 pounds in a 6-week period. Some of that was water (obviously approaching the final weigh-in I avoided all salt!) but a lot of it was just going low-carb.
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Yeah, Im kinda dopey like that. I love raw oysters, so its inevitable that you get a funky one…so I stop eating them for about 5 years til I get my courage back up.
Knock on wood, its been about 10 years since my last bad one.
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Yeah, this is one that I was referring to. there was another one near the same time. Couple of rumbling tummies. Pretty scary. This is the evidence I need to get dairy farmers to stop feeding it to their kids and selling on the side. 
Maybe not.
I’ve had real food poisoning before. My brother got botulism from a buffet in Shreveport, LA. THAT was sick. Months of vomiting himself dehydrated and trying to replace electrolytes. I’d worry much more about clostridium botulinum in canned tomatoes than anything in raw milk. Fun fact! Clostridium botulinum is used in Botox. My brother is 60 YOA now and wrinkle free. JK.
Honestly,if they were going to serve the fresh to the public, they should have pasteurized it. Least that’s my thinking. I consume at my own risk.
Here’s an appropriate quote to display the lack of pain folks must have gone through.
“patients were unwilling to identify farms that provided the milk.” They’d get the same cooperation from people here. I’m cool with that. You?
No lawsuits no lasting damage. “And the police arrived at a quarter to five, and pronounced all the victims okay.”-JP
I get to work lunch hour at the elementary and middle schools. helping kids with condiments and such. With 4 and 5 year olds, they’re conditioned to hold their arms up and out into the aisle so we can test for muscle growth. You feel their arm and say " Holy cow! Hey, I need help lifting a piano, You available?" stuff like that. With farm kids it’ll usually be “dang, that bulk tank is doin’ its job! You’ll be bigger than me before the year is out.”
I know who does and doesn’t drink it, for the most part, and could show you via attendance records just how infrequently these kids are sick. Let 'em play in the dirt. Their bodies will adjust likewise.
All the shit we serve kids at school lunch and I have a hard time believing anyone gives a rat’s ass about bulk tank milk. I’ll take tummy aches over diabetes any day. Cleaned up a lotta kid puke in my 29 years in education. Even had to clean up a cow pie in the hall once.
Was it “ceviche” cooked, with acid?
I’m on a similar cycle. Last one was a bad mussel that hit me. Just a day of pain. I still love the good mussels. Just couldn’t quit. Such a treat when I get them, (usually.)
I once misidentified a mushroom (it was at night stupid), and yacked all night, lost 8 lbs. but felt like a new man the next morning. Duck camp.
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Cuttin’ weight. You’re talking to an old wrestling coach, here.
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