RELISH AUSTIN

Raw milk popular despite FDA worries

By Addie Broyles
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Raw milk is a touchy subject. For the 3 percent of milk drinkers who prefer it raw, it's a commodity so tasty and healthful that it's worth driving hours to pick up from the dairy farmer, as required by Texas law. To federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, unpasteurized milk is harmful to your health.

So why are more people seeking out raw milk?

Before you read the words "raw milk" and scrunch up your nose, know that I've drunk, and quite frankly enjoyed, unpasteurized milk. It tastes like a really good version of the milk you buy in plastic gallons at the store.

It comes straight from a dairy cow, unprocessed and unheated, which is why some people love it and why it's so heavily regulated. In almost half the country, it is illegal to buy raw milk. In Texas, customers have to buy it directly from one of about 25 licensed dairies in the state.

For raw milk drinkers like Mary B. Shrader, it's as much about the health benefits as the rich, creamy taste. A book called "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon prompted her to try raw milk after the birth of her son 10 years ago. She was trying to lose weight and says she was tired of low-fat diets that relied on highly processed foods, which left her susceptible to colds and sore throats. After she contracted pneumonia, she decided to tackle her health issues by going back to a diet based on "real, whole foods."

Even though she was leery of raw milk, she bought a gallon just to try it. "I drank this milk and thought, 'It's ambrosia. It is milk as God intended it to be. \u2026 I might die, but wow, what a way to go.' "

It only took her a few days to finish the gallon by herself, and when she didn't get sick, she started to offer it to her son. Pretty soon, she noticed that her ailments had gone away and her overall health seemed to improve.

Now, every two weeks, she drives two hours from her Lake Travis home to Stryk Jersey Farm in Schulenburg, halfway between San Antonio and Houston, to buy gallons of raw milk and cream.

Her husband still won't drink it, but her 10-year-old son loves it as much as she does. Shrader says she and her son are rarely sick. "He's never had an ear infection, and since going on raw milk, he hasn't had to take any antibiotics." No cavities or sore throats, either.

So is raw milk the next miracle drug?

Not if you ask the FDA or the American Medical Association, both of which have issued warnings about drinking unpasteurized milk.

Gene Wright, manager of the policy standards and quality assurance milk group for the Texas Department of State Health Services, the state agency that regulates the sale of raw milk, says milk has a long history of causing diseases. The solution seemed to be pasteurization, the heating of milk to a specific temperature for a specific amount of time, which kills microorganisms in raw milk that can include salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter and Brucella. Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that from 1998 to May 2005, more than 1,000 people were sickened and at least two were killed by illnesses related to unpasteurized milk or cheese.

Pasteurization, however, also kills all the good-for-you microorganisms, says Fallon, author of the book that prompted Shrader's switch and one of the nation's leading raw-milk researchers. Heat damages the milk and the proteins, vitamins and enzymes that are naturally present, she says, which she thinks is one of the reasons lactose intolerance is a growing issue for Americans. "More and more people find they cannot tolerate pasteurized milk, then they find out they can tolerate raw milk."

In her book, Fallon outlines the science behind the anecdotal evidence that raw milk can strengthen immune systems and ward off ear infections and gastrointestinal problems in children. "According to our calculations, (raw milk) is as safe or up to five times safer because of antimicrobial qualities of milk that kill pathogens and enhance our immune systems," she says.

It's important, however, to note the difference between grass- and grain-fed cows, she says. Even though grain-fed cows produce twice as much milk, grass-fed cows produce nutritionally dense and better quality milk.

In Texas, one change to the health department's milk regulations has stirred up some raw-milk advocates. The department wants to add a single word — "final" — to the regulations: "The milk producer shall offer for sale and distribute raw milk directly to the final consumer only at the point of production, i.e., at the farm." With the way the rules are written now, which doesn't state that the sale has to be to the final customer, people have been forming carpools to pick up large quantities of milk from a licensed dairy to bring back to fellow raw-milk drinkers in the city. Wright says this addition is merely a clarification of what the department has always intended, that raw milk should be sold directly to the customer who will drink it.

"The situation is pretty good in Texas," says Fallon, who is also the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports traditional foodways and organic farming. In some states, customers have to buy a share of a cow in order to get raw milk. In California, customers can buy raw milk at grocery stores, but the inspection process is strict, she says.

(If you want to chime in on the wording in the milk rules, go to www.dshs.state.tx.us/milk/draft.shtm to find out when the next public commenting period will be.)

No matter how she has to go about getting it, Shrader doesn't mind paying $7 a gallon for raw milk and won't go back to pasteurized. "I'm a big believer in supporting family farms that are in our community, because we want to keep them going," she says. "For good nutrition, I would rather put the money into my family and our bodies and our good health, because that's what matters."

abroyles@statesman.com; 912-2504

Use raw milk for baking

Mary B. Shrader of Lake Travis adapted a rolled cream biscuit recipe from "The Joy of Cooking" and says they are fast, easy and nearly impossible to mess up. They are also a quick way to use up the cream that rises to the top of a large jar of unpasteurized milk. Shrader, who writes a food blog called Mary's Nest (marysnest.blogspot.com ), says it's easy to make variations by adding dry or fresh herbs and/or a cup of grated cheese such as a sharp cheddar when whisking the dry ingredients together. If you want to make a sweet breakfast treat, add a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. When the biscuits come out of the oven, top with a dollop of vanilla yogurt and drizzle with honey.

Quick Drop Cream Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour (Shrader prefers organic)

1 Tbsp. non-aluminum baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

11/2 cups raw cream (you can substitute pasteurized heavy cream for raw)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Then add cream all at once and stir until the dry ingredients are well moistened. If the day is dry outside, you might need more cream, Shrader says. (You are looking for an extra-moist batter that will be sticky and lumpy, not smooth.) Using a spoon, scoop batter out of bowl and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper - you might need to use a second spoon to help loosen the batter off the first spoon. Space the batter about 11/2 inches apart. At this point, you can sprinkle each biscuit with a bit of sea salt, but it's not required. Bake the biscuits until the bottoms are a deep golden brown and the tops look golden brown and crunchy, about 12 minutes. Serve hot.

- Mary B. Shrader

Raw-milk information

and Central Texas sources

Everything Jesus! Ranch, Seguin:

www.moojesus.com

Stryk Jersey Farm, Schulenburg:

www.texascheese.com

Sand Creek Farm, Cameron:

www.sandcreekfarm.net

www.realmilk.com

www.westonaprice.org

A note: You can buy low-pasteurized dairy products, such as those from Remember When Dairy in Yantis, at Wheatsville Co-op, Central Market, Whole Foods Market and local farmers' markets.

Use raw milk for baking

Mary B. Shrader of Lake Travis adapted a rolled cream biscuit recipe from "The Joy of Cooking" and says they are fast, easy and nearly impossible to mess up. They are also a quick way to use up the cream that rises to the top of a large jar of unpasteurized milk. Shrader, who writes a food blog called Mary's Nest (marysnest.blogspot.com ), says it's easy to make variations by adding dry or fresh herbs and/or a cup of grated cheese such as a sharp cheddar when whisking the dry ingredients together. If you want to make a sweet breakfast treat, add a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. When the biscuits come out of the oven, top with a dollop of vanilla yogurt and drizzle with honey.

Raw-milk information and Central Texas sources

Everything Jesus! Ranch, Seguin:

www.moojesus.com

Stryk Jersey Farm, Schulenburg:

www.texascheese.com

Sand Creek Farm, Cameron:

www.sandcreekfarm.net

www.realmilk.com

www.westonaprice.org

A note: You can buy low-pasteurized dairy products, such as those from Remember When Dairy in Yantis, at Wheatsville Co-op, Central Market, Whole Foods Market and local farmers' markets.