Comments on: On unpasteurized milk

By: Eric Brown

Eric Brown — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:51:24 +0000

I think it’s foolish to strictly define “health” on the basis of “reputable scientific studies.” Surely you can think of all sorts of way in which “reputable scientific studies” have misled us into unhealthy things in the past. You’re probably familiar with some of Michael Pollan’s writings recently on the foolishness of letting scientists tell us what to eat, how the end result of such attempts is quite unhealthy. Perhaps even more to the point, would reputable scientific studies take the extra deaths and injuries from automobile accidents into account that result from the increased automobile traffic necessary to support the kind of societal structure consistent with more highly processed milk (greater transport distances, more trips out of the neighborhood, etc.)? Of course, that’s just one example; my point is that there are all sorts of indirect consequences of regulating milk sales. Can you even imagine the parameters of a reputable scientific study on the subject that would hold water? As Albert Einstein said, “As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.” I might say: as far as scientific studies refer to the real world, they are not authoritative, and as far as they are authoritative, they do not refer to the real world. Don’t you agree?
Best regards, Eric

P.S. Philipp, we would commonly say “organic agriculture.” In German, would you really say industry, though, as opposed to Landwirtschaft?

By: Philipp Keller

Philipp Keller — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:54:00 +0000

In switzerland you can buy unpasteurized milk from certain shops. That milk is controlled quite thoroughly. And as I understand there mostly is no pail the cow can step into as the milk goes through the pump directly in those metal cans…

Switzerland has quite a “bio-industry” (don’t know how you say that in english, just organic food, short transportation, etc.) with many labels and control. If it would be made public that there is a higher risk in drinking unpasteurized milk I’m pretty sure the stores selling that milk would have a big problem because most people here believe those reports.

By: Robert Ivy

Robert Ivy — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:17:47 +0000

Thanks for the post. I’ve always been bothered by the fact that my grandparents had to stop selling the milk from their rural farm when the law was passed that the milk had to be pasteurized. It seemed to stifle the viability of small family farms. But with the reasons you provided I think it makes sense even though it is (was) inconvenient for many people. I think it was a good decision.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:10:25 +0000

I think the current system is pretty reasonable, though like you I’m open to persuasion. I’m no fan of centralized authority, especially in matters like these. (I still don’t understand why moonshining is still illegal.) Nevertheless, the public health risk seems substantial enough to justify it.