Letter: Milk quality and pasteurization

Recently, the Pennysaver featured a local farm touting its sale of new milk. While this business is legal under strict NY State regulations, and its restrictions can reduce diseases spread by milk, eliminating them entirely from milk would noticeably alter its quality; it would no longer be the nutritious product we know. Pasteurization is a heat treatment where the milk is subjected to a flash of heat, killing most pathogenic bacteria and viruses, but not destroying the proteins, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients naturally present in milk, nor altering its taste.

The narrative of the story printed was misleading and not factual. Drinking raw milk today is unsafe, especially for infants and small children. No one can know just when some sickening bacteria or virus might find its way into milk. A little history regarding public health and the crisis of 1906 might illustrate the point:

During the early 20th century, the food supply of the United States and its distribution system was so unsanitary and controlled by corrupt corporations and crime organizations that in 1906, Congress passed a series of laws to clean up our foods, especially as they were sold in the large cities of the nation. The Meat Inspection Act required inspection and sampling of meat and removal of infected and unsanitary products, including tissues from infected mammary glands of cows.

The Pure Food and Drug Act specifically required improvement in milk quality and distribution, and pasteurization was introduced. However, it was not until 1987 that the FDA made it a nationwide rule that all milk sold in interstate commerce must be pasteurized. Pasteurization effectively removed tuberculosis, brucellosis (undulant fever), and most serious disease-causing organisms in milk. The infection rate for tuberculosis, estimated to be 30% of our population in 1906, went to near zero. Other milk-borne infections followed suit, and “Food Poisoning” numbers plummeted.

In the 21st century, some states began to chip away at the widespread food safety regulations set in 1906 and improved upon as scientific understanding of diseases became better understood. These actions have led to an increase in diseases that had been under control for decades. Milk-borne infections have increased along with many others.

For the health of all people, we must resist the urge to scuttle tried-and-true methods of sanitation to control diseases that are naturally present in our food supplies.

Sincerely,

Thomas F. Nytch

President, Tioga County Board of Health

Owego, New York