The Raw Truth: Why Unpasteurized Milk Isn't Worth the Risk
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Consuming raw (unpasteurized) milk poses significant health risks to humans.
Transcript
ALEX
Hey everyone, welcome back to The Lenz Podcast! I'm Alex, and this is Episode 5, recorded March 10, 2026. Today we're tackling something that's been getting a lot of buzz in wellness circles: whether drinking raw, unpasteurized milk is actually safe. Maya's here to argue it's not as risky as people say, and I'm going to make the case that it absolutely is. Let's dig in.
MAYA
Okay, so I know raw milk has a reputation, but I think people are overblowing the danger here. There's actually some interesting research showing that kids who drink raw milk from farms have lower rates of allergies and asthma. That's a real benefit that nobody talks about.
ALEX
I hear you, but here's the thing—the CDC has documented 202 outbreaks linked to raw milk between 1998 and 2018. That's 2,645 people getting sick and 228 hospitalizations. Those aren't small numbers, and they're not theoretical.
MAYA
Yeah, but 202 outbreaks over 20 years—when you think about how many millions of people are drinking raw milk, the per-serving risk is actually pretty tiny, right? You're making it sound scarier than it is.
ALEX
Okay, but that's where the comparative data gets really damning. A 2017 study found that unpasteurized dairy causes 840 times more illnesses than pasteurized dairy. Not 8 times, not 80 times—840 times. That's not a rounding error.
MAYA
Wait, 840 times? Hmm… okay, that's actually pretty wild. But I mean, the allergy thing is still real, right? Some of those farm studies are peer-reviewed.
ALEX
They are, and I'm not saying the allergy correlations don't exist. But here's what matters: the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries—which is neutral on this—explicitly said those allergy findings are non-causal and insufficient to recommend raw milk. You can't use a possible benefit to erase a documented risk.
MAYA
Okay, fair point. But what about the pathogens themselves? I mean, if you're buying from a good farm with clean practices, doesn't that basically eliminate the risk?
ALEX
The CDC directly addresses that. They say good farm practices can reduce contamination, but they cannot guarantee safety. And the evidence backs that up—surveys show that even in high-income countries, up to 13% of raw milk samples contain dangerous bacteria like Campylobacter or Listeria. In some studies, almost a third of samples had at least one pathogen.
MAYA
A third? That's… okay, that's actually concerning. I didn't realize it was that widespread.
ALEX
Yeah, and here's what really gets me—there was a Salmonella outbreak linked to raw milk in California just last year. 171 cases across five states. And 70% of them were children under 18. Kids are way more vulnerable to serious complications from these infections.
MAYA
Oh wow, so it's not just adults who can handle it—kids are actually at higher risk. That changes things for me, honestly.
ALEX
Exactly. And it's not just Salmonella. Raw milk can carry E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter—all the nasty stuff that causes serious foodborne illness. Pasteurization removes those germs. That's literally why we invented it.
MAYA
I mean, when you lay it out like that, with the outbreak data and the pathogen prevalence and the fact that kids are disproportionately affected… I'm kind of coming around here. The allergy thing is interesting, but it doesn't really outweigh all of that, does it?
ALEX
Not even close. And look, I'm not saying raw milk drinkers are all going to get sick. But the evidence is crystal clear: raw milk poses significantly higher risks than pasteurized milk. The CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, peer-reviewed studies—they all say the same thing.
MAYA
Yeah, okay. I think I was focusing too much on the allergy angle and not enough on the actual outbreak and hospitalization data. That's pretty hard to argue with.
ALEX
So here's our verdict: the claim that consuming raw milk poses significant health risks to humans is true. The evidence is overwhelming, the risks are documented, and the benefits people cite don't actually outweigh the danger. Pasteurization exists for a reason, and it works.