New question on US health insurance form:
Do you drink raw milk?
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I would guess that antibiotics was a much bigger deal than Pasteurization, but both helped.
Most raw milk is fine. People have been drinking raw milk for 6 millennia according to my Google search.
It’s riskier than Pasteurized milk, and having grown up on Pasteurized milk that’s what I prefer (although homogenization is far more important than Pasteurization in terms of how icky or pleasant it is to drink). But the risk is small and I believe the choice should be mine.
Exceptions for a particular localized short-term problem, like when spinach gets recalled for a couple of weeks due to E. coli contamination. But generally available absent extenuating circumstances.
In a family with kids, who drinks most of the milk? Do you think an 8 year old is giving informed consent when his mother gives him a glass of milk?
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I grew up drinking raw milk as we just set aside a few quarts for family consumption from our morning milking each day. However my father monitored every cow’s health carefully and took appropriate actions. We switched to store bought pasteurized milk in adulthood after my father retired. I would not take a chance with raw milk from anyone else even though it tastes better.
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No I do not. He’s also not giving informed consent when his mother has him vaccinated for measles or gives him candy or soda or tells him to brush his teeth or signs the permission slip for him to go on the class field trip. We give parents the authority to make all kinds of decisions on their children’s behalf and the children are making informed consent on none of it.
His mother can also decide to give him eggnog made with raw eggs or a very rare hamburger or an excessive amount of tuna and swordfish (which have mercury).
I don’t see a compelling argument why raw milk should have a special rule that doesn’t apply to other food choices.
And you should absolutely be free to make that decision. And your siblings should be free to make their own decisions that might or might not be the same as yours.
I think it’s reasonable to regulate some safety protocols for raw milk. How the cow’s udders are cleaned prior to milking, how the cow’s health is monitored.
This type of mentality sounds great on paper.
But then, a few people start getting hospitalised and dying…
And then what?
Thats why regulations exist. To stop people being morons and harming themselves.
This is a bad comparison. Almost everyone cooks their eggs and meat before consuming it, killing things that can make them dangerous. We even have campaigns to discourage consumption of raw cookie dough because it has tiny amounts of raw egg in it. Milk is primarily consumed without cooking it at home.
Every year people die from eating raw eggs and yet I can still buy raw eggs at the grocery store.
Do you know anyone that feeds their kids raw eggs?
Uh… not even close to true. There are health benefits to raw eggs. People put them in smoothies. People undercook eggs so much that bacteria would not be killed. Honemade eggnog contains raw eggs. My favorite kind of pie is a chiffon that contains raw egg whites. I make four a year (one each for mom and dad for both Thanksgiving and Christmas) and have for decades and my mother and grandmother before me served it every Thanksgiving and Christmas and no one has EVER gotten sick from it, despite the small risk. My favorite recipe for sour mix includes a raw egg white.
People eat TONS of raw and undercooked eggs all the time.
Made a beef tartare with raw quail egg yolks not too long ago… Though I can agree with “almost everyone” at least with meat.
Edit: Was reminded by Twig back when I drank that egg white foam was on my menu as well. Also, I’m eating chicken sashimi when we go to Japan, but Japan has better slaughtering practices.
Mini Me is not a huge fan of my chiffon pie so I don’t force her to eat it, but she’s had it. My mother certainly let me eat her pies when I was a kid, and unlike Mini Me, I loved them.
Heh, my grandmother LOVED raw ground beef. When she was making meat loaf or hamburger patties she would always sneak a few bites.
Steak tartare, seared ahi (although the searing does make this fairly safe), raw oysters, most varieties of sushi / sashimi…
To say nothing of meat that is undercooked. I don’t like them but I’ve been served plenty of undercooked hamburgers over the years.
Oh, and how many of us sample raw cookie dough? That contains raw eggs. Now if you buy cookie dough ice cream then any eggs in the dough were Pasteurized. But licking the bowl and beaters when mom makes cookies is a time-honored tradition, and I’m guessing that in 99.99% of cases those eggs have not been Pasteurized.
Also if you make your own gingerbread cookies / gingerbread houses, the royal icing used to decorate them contains raw egg whites. Another extremely common occurrence, although probably more and more people are using store-bought icing or mixes these days. My mom certainly still makes her own so Mini Me and nephews and nieces get their fill.
Gosh, Christmas dinner at mom’s has three separate offerings containing raw eggs in a single meal: homemade egg nog, homemade icing, and homemade chiffon pie.
This is where the “law of averages” comes in.
People who drink raw milk probably do so every day (or close to it).
People who eat raw cookie dough do so seldomly (maybe once a week if that)
People who eat raw or undercooked eggs might do so every day. Raw egg is a common ingredient in breakfast smoothies. (Common as in “not unusual” … not that a majority do this or anything.)
My mom’s boyfriend undercooks his eggs every single time he makes them, which is not every day, but several times a week. If I am staying at my mom’s house and making breakfast for everyone I pull out some half-cooked scrambled eggs for her BF (then cook the rest properly) because that’s how he likes them. 
Cannibal sandwiches. They have a few names depending on the locality, but basically just raw ground beef on bread. Not as popular today, but popular roughly stretching from North Dakota to Michigan and a little south.
My scrambled eggs aren’t fully raw, but there are bits that could be considered “raw”. Mostly cooked, portions of it will be slightly clear, slightly milky-white.
Rocky’s mother maybe?
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“Caution: DO NOT DRINK!”