Several prominent American dairies have joined together, forming the Raw Milk Cheesemakers Association, in the hopes of heading off regulation that might ban their products.
The new association’s aim is to come up with guidelines and protocols that would ensure the safety of domestic cheeses made from unpasteurized milk, by helping their members implement safe manufacturing practices.
But, will it be enough?
Currently, the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulations allow the production of raw-milk cheese as long as the cheese is matured for at least 60 days. Typically, aged cheeses, which are low in moisture and high in acid, do not provide the conditions that pathogens need in order to survive.
But, according to Richard Koby, an attorney for the Cheese Importers Association of America, the FDA fears the 60-day rule is based on old science that no longer holds up, and a newly created FDA working group is looking into the safety of cheeses of all kinds.
Although the Raw Milk Cheesemakers Association’s goal is to provide assurances of safety, Michael Herndon, an FDA spokesman, said, “For some raw-milk cheeses, there may be no such thing as a set of protocols that will make them safe. It may well be that one outcome for us is that some cheeses will have to be made from pasteurized milk or thermized milk.”
San Francisco Gate September 26, 2007
Isn’t it interesting how, all of a sudden, age-old traditional practices of cheese making may be deemed unsafe for human consumption because it’s an old science?
Raw-milk cheese has been consumed in Europe for ages, and if the science of it posed a health risk, I’m sure we all would have been well aware of the problem by now.
If you’ve read my newsletter for any length of time, you know I’m a major advocate of raw milk (and raw-milk products), despite the fact that I can’t eat or drink it myself – not due to any problem with raw milk in and of itself mind you, but I’ve developed a serious sensitivity, and dairy products just don’t agree with me. But I’ve seen dramatic health improvements in many of my patients who made the switch from pasteurized to raw milk.
Your body is wise, and will give you the feedback you need to make healthy choices, so if raw milk gives you problems, avoid it. But if it makes you feel great, as it often will, then you can rest assured that it’s definitely a healthy food choice.
Pasteurized milk, on the other hand, should be avoided by virtually everyone. For more information about the problems with pasteurized milk, see my previous article Why You Don’t Want to Drink Pasteurized Milk.
Why Raw-Milk Cheese is So Good For You
In addition to the many benefits of raw milk, which I’ve previously written about in depth, raw-milk products are also a great source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is an essential fatty acid, and is right up there toward the top of the list – together with omega-3 -- in terms of health potential, due to its anti-cancer and fat-fighting properties.
CLA is actually so potent a cancer fighter that animal studies show as little as 0.5 percent CLA in your diet could reduce tumors by over 50 percent. Other animal studies have shown it can reduce your risk of several types of cancer, including:
CLA has become widely popular in the form of expensive dietary supplements, but beware -- As with all nutrients, it is far better to get them from food than from synthetic supplements, not to mention that CLA supplements can be outrageously expensive.
Even worse, studies show that the type of CLA used in dietary supplements has been associated with an array of negative side effects, including:
Obviously, that’s NOT what you want.
Your best bet for increasing your CLA naturally is to incorporate grass-fed beef into your diet, as well as dairy products from grass-fed cows, including raw milk, raw butter and raw milk cheese. But make sure you’re getting your meat and dairy from grass-fed animals, as they have three to five times more CLA than grain-fed animals.
In addition to being a potent cancer fighter, CLA also helps your body to rid itself of fat. Not only does it appear to reduce body fat, but it does so while preserving muscle tissue. This is why it is so widely sold as a dietary supplement to body builders and dieters alike, but, as I mentioned above, the only safe way to increase CLA in your diet is from grass-fed animal products -- not from supplements.
Other studies suggest that CLA also:
Raw-milk cheese is obviously a vital health food that we should all do our best to keep legally on the market.