Getting back to nature can have a poisonous downside.
As a youngster growing up in New Zealand in the 1960s, drinking copious quantities of milk was not only commonplace, it was considered a wholly positive healthy endeavour.
Cows’ juice was plentiful, cheap and, most importantly, pretty much always pasteurised.
In fact, as in Australia, there was a free school milk program during our early primary years, memorable mainly for the disregard for any concept of lactose intolerance and the unforgettable aroma of warm milky vomit puddles on the playground.
These days drinking cows’ milk is less popular, what with the advent of juice bars and soy, almond and oat alternatives, with per capita consumption trending steadily downwards since a 2013-14 peak.
But what is surprising however, is the number of Aussies who are currently consuming “raw” – that is, unpasteurised – milk products, especially given that is actually illegal to sell this stuff as human food.
We have the good folks at Food Safety Information Council to thank for this finding, which comes after the council commissioned a national Omnipoll survey of more than 1200 adults which reveals that one in six Australian adults are choosing to partake of the raw stuff.
Releasing their results as part of this month’s Australian Food Safety Week, the safety boffins were at pains to point out that cows’ milk gets treated for a good reason, not the least of which is killing off harmful bacteria such as salmonella, listeria, yersinia, campylobacter, staphylococcus and e. coli.
Not to mention pasteurisation’s role in helping prevent potentially fatal zoonotic diseases such as brucellosis and history’s over-achieving killer, tuberculosis.
“The research found consumption of raw milk is more likely amongst men (20%), adults aged 25 to 34 (29%) and adults aged 36 to 49 (23%),” council CEO Lydia Buchtmann said in as media release.
“It is also higher in households with children (25%), those living in capital cities (18%) and higher income households (20% earning over $90,000pa).”
Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they sourced their raw milk directly from a farm, 15% had their own cow or were part of a “cow share” program, while 27% bought the milk online.
“Of specific concern is that the survey found that raw milk consumption was higher in households with children, possibly putting those children at risk of illness if they also consumed the raw milk or were exposed due to cross contamination,” Ms Buchtmann said.
“We urge people not to consume raw milk so we can reduce the estimated 4.67 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year that result in 47,000 hospitalisations and a cost to the economy of $3 billion.”
Of course, your ageing Back Page scribbler can, to a degree, understand the hankerings of some younger folks to return to the simpler, less refined days of the past, especially since they didn’t actually have to live through them.
We, on the other hand, consider not shitting ourselves to death or coughing up blood for weeks thanks to a case of tuberculosis to be the hallmarks of genuine progress.
Send your unpasteurised story tips to the lactose-tolerant Holly@medicalrepublic.com.au.
