U of A research pushes back against unpasteurized milk advocates

The sale of raw milk is illegal in Alberta, but there's a push online for that to change. Health law professor Tim Caulfield explains the hype surrounding it.

Tim Caulfield, research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta, discusses an online push for the sale of raw milk to be legalized in Alberta.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: What is raw milk?

Tim Caulfield: We’re not talking whole milk, we’re talking raw unpasteurized milk.

There’s a real push for it right now. It’s kind of part of a food rebellion. It’s closely associated with the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement, with the manosphere. RFK Jr. has been pushing this, Joe Rogan talks about it – name your influencer, and they’re all in on raw milk.

The idea here is that you don’t want your government interfering with your milk, that’s government overreach. So, there’s a political element to it, and also the idea that somehow it is healthier. It’ll help with your allergies, and you will have a healthy microbiome, etc. etc. It’s becoming really, really popular in Canada.

I think it’s important to emphasize, in general, it’s illegal to sell truly raw milk.

KM: Are there benefits to it, scientifically speaking? Or is it all risk?

TC: The answer is: No, there’s no evidence there are any health benefits to raw milk. By the way, this is not a new question. There’s been research on this. It does not help with allergies, it does not help your microbiome, there aren’t healthy probiotics in there, etc. And there are real, real harms. There have been recalls. There have been deaths associated with raw milk. It’s especially problematic for vulnerable individuals: immunocompromised, young babies, older adults. Right now, there is an investigation in Idaho; 60 people have gotten sick from raw milk.

KM: What about things like yogurt and cheese? Where do those fit into the conversation?

TC: It is a little bit more complicated when you talk about cheese, especially in Canada, because it is legal to sell raw milk cheese – but, and I think this speaks to how problematic the bacteria salmonella and E. coli can be. You have to follow incredibly strict rules before you can sell it; you have to keep it at a particular temperature… that kind of has a pasteurization effect on the cheese. And by the way, there have been recalls. There was a big one in California for raw cheese, too. It’s called Raw Farm… It’s a part of the tradwives (traditional wives) movement.

KM: What about unwashed eggs?

TC: This is fascinating, too. I think it’s also part of the food rebellion thing. There’s this idea that you don’t need to refrigerate your eggs in North America, which is different than in Europe. Refrigerate your eggs, please. Also, the washing of them does make a difference, but the regulations are different in North America where we have great concern about infection like salmonella and E. coli. Refrigerate your eggs, please.