Raw milk returns to the center of US debate

Raw milk is spreading through stores, herd shares, and state-level bills—while federal agencies maintain that pasteurization is essential to prevent deadly foodborne illnesses. The conflict is now entangled with “health freedom” politics and frustration that H

For decades. pasteurization has been the line public health agencies drew between milk that is meant to nourish families and milk that can quietly carry illness. But in recent months. that line has started to blur again—stores more readily sell raw milk in some places. bills to expand access multiply in others. and “food freedom” messaging pushes the idea that personal choice should override established risk.

At the heart of the fight is what happens after pasteurization became a norm. Pasteurization—heating milk to 161° F for 15 seconds and then rapidly cooling it—was mandated for human consumption because it significantly kills off harmful bacteria. viruses. and parasites and reduces the risk of transmitting foodborne illnesses. Those illnesses include listeria, E. coli, salmonella, tuberculosis, and bird flu—dangers that can be fatal for children, the elderly, and immunocompromised people.

Raw milk advocates keep returning to a different promise: they say pasteurization strips milk of beneficial bacteria and enzymes. Public health organizations. including the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. say the claims behind raw milk’s unique nutritional benefits are unsupported.

The argument is not new, but the momentum is. While the FDA has banned the interstate sale of raw milk since 1987. some members of Congress are pushing to lift that ban; a House bill to do so is currently in committee. Across the country, 18 states are considering more than 40 bills aimed at making it easier to buy and sell raw milk. Raw milk is legal to some degree in 43 states, but the rules vary widely.

In California. where Anna Merlan. a senior reporter at Mother Jones. spoke on Today. Explained. raw milk can be bought directly in stores. Elsewhere. access can come through herd shares—legal agreements where consumers have access to a milking animal or herd and buy or get the milk directly from the farmer. In some places. raw milk is only legal as pet food. but the practical consequence. Merlan said. is that people can still obtain and drink milk labeled as pet food if they insist.

Not every state is on board. Washington, D.C., for example, is one place where raw milk is illegal. In Rhode Island, it is “totally illegal,” except raw goat milk can be obtained with a prescription from a doctor. Raw milk is also illegal in Hawaii.

The resurgence has been fueled by people who describe themselves as champions of “health freedom. ” and by wellness influencers who promote raw milk as “nature’s superfood.” Merlan said she expects raw milk legalization across state lines—especially under the current federal administration—to remain unlikely. even as national conversation shifts.

That conversation has a political edge because of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has treated raw milk publicly. Before joining the Trump administration. Kennedy championed raw milk and—Merlan described it as—vowed to loosen federal restrictions on interstate sales. She pointed to his 2024 act at the White House. when he drank raw milk to celebrate the publication of the “Make America Health Again” report. described in the excerpt as full of “AI slop and fake citations.”.

But the frustration for raw milk advocates is tied to what has not happened since Kennedy took office as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy is said to have been bullish about raw milk before becoming HHS secretary. including a 2024 tweet listing “all the things” the FDA would stop suppressing under his leadership. with raw milk among them. Yet. Merlan said. there has not been federal action to make raw milk more legal or legal across state lines. and she reported that Mark McAfee—the founder and CEO of Raw Farm. described as the biggest raw milk producer in the country—cannot get Kennedy to return his calls.

Instead, the Trump administration has emphasized whole milk. Merlan said people may have seen the administration touting whole milk being brought back to schools. and she stressed that whole milk is no longer illegal in America. which she said it never was. She described the language around whole milk as echoing raw milk advocates’ messaging. while also noting that raw milk itself has not been prominently discussed.

Public health officials do not share the advocates’ confidence. Merlan pointed to a death in New Mexico earlier this year: an infant died from listeria that public health officials there think was probably linked to the infant’s mom drinking it during pregnancy. She also referenced outbreaks of foodborne illness and warned that raw milk can carry E. coli and salmonella, along with Campylobacter—pathogens that can make people “really, really sick.”.

The risk, she said, is heightened by who the marketing targets. Raw milk is being promoted by health influencers and people with big social media followings as a miracle cure in simplified terms—especially to parents as a cure-all for children. Merlan said that is concerning because raw milk and dairy are especially risky for infants, immune-compromised people, and elderly people.

Even when adults survive, the consequences for children can be severe. Merlan described E. coli as serious for children and said it can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, which has sickened and killed children.

Advocates often argue that raw milk is safe if you trust your farmer. Merlan’s account of the scientific counterpoint is blunt: when you talk to a virologist. the warning is that no matter how well you know your farmer—or how much you think you trust the dairy—if milk is not pasteurized. people are at more risk of common foodborne pathogens. A farm can be delightful, she said, but that still does not prevent illness.

For public health agencies, the fight is increasingly about whether to keep returning to established science. Merlan said the ideal would be to move on from litigating well-established findings—but the debate keeps restarting.

There is. she added. a page on the FDA that lists counterarguments to common raw milk claims. including that it contains beneficial bacteria or enzymes. The core message remains the same: pasteurization’s purpose is to reduce disease. and public health agencies say the risks of raw milk are well supported by evidence.

The result is a familiar American conflict, renewed with new platforms and new bills. Families can find raw milk in some states through stores and herd shares; in others it is restricted or illegal. At the federal level. the FDA’s interstate ban has stood since 1987. while a House bill sits in committee and state legislatures consider more than 40 measures across 18 states. For advocates, the open question is whether the federal government will loosen restrictions. For public health officials and many parents. the question is what comes next when a product tied to tuberculosis. listeria. E. coli, salmonella, and bird flu remains sold with claims they view as unsupported.

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