Pennsylvania farmer blocked from selling unpasteurized milk outside of that state, but it is okay to

[they'reHISchickens]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with raw milk if:
1. the cow is healthy
2. the milker is healthy
3. the cow and milker are clean
4. the milk is kept clean and cooled and refrigerated immediately.
My pediatrician gasped when I told him my kids were drinking raw milk... until I told him that cow was healthier than any of us! She was a 4H show animal and was tested yearly for TB and other contagions.
I grew up on raw. Love it.

 

[chickenzoo]

I would trust a family farm that drinks their own milk then a big time commercial operation. Most people that use what they raise are more careful with how it's done....

 

[Frosty]

I would trust a family farm that drinks their own milk then a big time commercial operation. Most people that use what they raise are more careful with how it's done....

As long as the people raising it know what they are doing... In our state it is only legal to sell raw milk 'for pet use'. I was buying milk from a local guy until I started seeing tiny clumps in it. Could have been a sign of mastitis starting, I quit buying from the guy. I need to get a cow... I love raw milk.

 

[chickened]

When you make a deal with the devil (government) the industry (dairy) has to get something in return (monopoly) from that deal. Any wonder why stupid regulations exist in products that the average person can obtain?

 

[Nitrous]

How do you tell the difference between raw milk and milk that has been pasteurized?

 

[chickened]

Raw milk has cow hair and dry skin cells in it

Raw milk has creme in it that separates and floats on the milk. Pasteurization heats the milk and disperses the creme into the milk.

How do you tell the difference between raw milk and milk that has been pasteurized?

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Homogenization is the process that disperses the cream molecules throughout the milk. Pasteurization only heats it to kill any bacteria ( be it good bugs or bad bugs). I think there are home pasteurization units but I've never heard of home homogenization unit.
And milk should NOT have cow hair in it. It is strained through an inline filter at the farm before it goes into the bulk tank. Before they had bulk tanks, the milk was dumped into a strainer ( yeah they called it that) which had a special filter in it to remove hair and dirt.
All commercially processed milk is both pasteurized and homogenized. At the risk of being boring:
Whole milk from the cow is normally anywhere from 3.5 to 5.5 % butterfat ( depends upon breed/stage of lactation/feed).
Commercial whole milk is standardized at 3.25% butterfat. 2% is indeed 2% , 1% is 1%, and skim has no butterfat but does have added milk solids so it doesn't appear almost clear. Keep in mind that whole milk is 87% water.
Now, it is not possible to take out only a fraction of the butterfat in processing. It is an all or nothing process. So to make whole standard 3.25 milk, the dairy takes the whole milk it gets in and adds skim milk to it until the percentage of butterfat goes down and is accurate.

Dairy Farmer's daughter & my ex works for 30 yrs in a dairy. I know the process from birth to store

 

[Bullitt]

Very informative. I learn something new every day.

What is your opinion about a state allowing raw milk to be sold but the USDA not allowing raw milk to be sold?

 

[they'reHISchickens]

I would only buy raw milk from a farmer where I could see his cows and operations. Cows can be filthy depending upon their environment- and not necessarily the farmer's fault. Cows are natural critters and some aren't adverse to mud and manure.The dairyman should be washing/hosing off the udder before each milking and depending upon how conscientious the milker is, that's how clean the milk going into the system will be. Also, how clean is the straining sock in the pipeline? What's the herd's somatic cell count? That's a pretty personal question for a dairyman!
Local vs interstate raw milk is a matter of time and distance. Local is fresher and always better. I would not want out of state raw milk. I believe there are some federal laws that milk must be processed within three days of pickup from a farm. Most farms are picked up every other day or daily. But I have kept my own raw milk for a week. The cream just gets thicker
The feds stepped into the dairy area because of pasteurization and the necessity of it during the TB outbreaks of the early 1900s. Milk cows of that era were notorious for carrying TB in their milk and every little town had a dairy that bottled its own milk and peddled it to the townspeople. Before that, the farmer had it in a large can in the back of his horsedrawn wagon and ladled it out at every stop.
Anyway, the states and theUSDA developed a cow identification eartag system and started testing herds for TB. If your cow tested positive, she was slaughtered. Period. No question. Small compensation to the farmer. This went on well into the 1960s. The gov't also paid for vaccination of calves for brucellosis which would cause abortions. AS these were erradicated, the gov't scaled down the programs and I don't believe there is any official program for either these days- at least not in PA.
Our 4H animals which travel to shows are tested yearly( and we pay for it.) I believe there are interstate test requirements for shipping of cattle also.
Speaking of milk and shipping, did you know there is and has been for years a shortage of liquid milk in the Northeast PA? Milk is trucked in from the Midwest to make up the difference.

 

[chickened]

Did you know that humans are the only species to consume milk after infancy and very few countries actually drink milk.