Milk fresh milk directly from the farm is healthy?

Milk fresh milk directly from the farm untreated holds the risk of bacterial infections

31/03/2011

The Kiel Institute for Safety and Quality warns against the consumption of untreated milk. Those who drink milk-fresh milk directly from the farmer may risk a bacterial infection. Especially children and pregnant women should refrain from eating untreated milk.

Anyone who has spent a holiday on the farm with his family will probably also have drunk untreated milk. What is considered healthy in many places may even be harmful to health, according to the Kiel Institute for Safety and Quality. Fresh raw milk, which is still untreated, can have numerous germs. In particular, children, pregnant women and the elderly should therefore refrain from consuming raw milk. „In milk that has not been heat treated but is drunk raw, germs can survive“, warns Juliane Bräuning of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin. If the animals are healthy, there are hardly any bacteria in the milk. But when milking it is possible that germs from the steel into the milk, explained the vet Dr. med. Wolf-Rüdiger Stenzel from the Institute of Food Hygiene at the Freie Universität Berlin (FU).

Farm: Regular cleaning of the milking machines reduces risk
If the milking machines are thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis and the steel is otherwise very clean, the risk of infection can be reduced. However, sterility can not be produced in agriculture, according to Philipp Hammer from the Kiel Institute. Because: „A cow excretes about a hundredweight of feces during the day.“ The cow udder is usually contaminated with feces.

What is raw milk?
The raw milk is not exposed to any treatments or heating. Although milk contains a high proportion of natural calcium and contains many proteins, raw milk also provides an excellent breeding ground for bacterial strains. For this reason, the pasteurization of milk was introduced in the 19th century to protect consumers from sometimes serious infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Raw milk directly from the farm
Especially among connoisseurs and naturopaths raw milk is considered a healthy and tasty drink. Untreated, milk-fresh milk tastes more intense and contains more healthy ingredients, according to many. According to hygiene rules, therefore, under certain conditions, raw milk may be given to consumers as a product „Direct from the farm“ sold. However, farms are subject to the requirement that the fresh milk must be boiled before consumption. By boiling down most germs are killed. Alternatively, the preferred milk is also delivered to consumers. This natural preferred milk is subject to very strict microbiological controls, which are regularly undertaken by authorities.

Heat milking fresh milk before consumption
So if you buy raw milk directly from the organic farm, you should not drink the milk untreated. It is important to boil the milk at least once. In addition, children, pregnant women, the chronically ill and the elderly should, to be on the safe side, forego milk-free milk. Consumption can lead to diarrhea, vomiting, fever and cardiovascular problems. In the worst case, even dangerous infectious diseases or symptoms such as blood in the stool and kidney failure threaten.

Decoction hardly reduces ingredients
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment points out that almost no valuable ingredients are lost as a result of the boil-up of the milk. „The heat treatment of cows' milk does not reduce its content of valuable ingredients, especially minerals“, explained a spokesman for the institute. Only the vitamin C content is reduced slightly. In addition, an additional cooking taste. (Sb)

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Cancer therapy: breast milk as a cancer killer
Drink lactose-free milk with lactose intolerance
Active ingredients in the milk protect against diabetes

Picture: Erika Hartmann