American Academy of Pediatrics Renews Call for Raw Milk Ban

A Renewed Push for a Ban

The calls came back this week. Raw milk bans, they're back in the spotlight. The American Academy of Pediatrics renewed those calls, and it's the nation's largest professional group of pediatricians, so people listen when they speak. In a revised policy statement, the organization urged a nationwide prohibition on the sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk and other raw dairy products, pushing for rules that would apply across every state and every market. And the guidance warns of serious health risks. They're tied to raw dairy consumption. Kids, pregnant people, and immunocompromised people face the worst of it, and we've heard this before, but the group says the dangers don't go away just because the advice is old.

"More and more people are discussing this as a potentially healthful thing to do, when in fact it's a highly risky thing to do," said Dr. Andrew Racine, the academy's president. "So our responsibility, as the leading voice of pediatric healthcare in the United States that's dedicated to the health and well-being of children, is to make sure that the accurate, evidence-based information is out there."

The revised statement lands now. Raw milk isn't fringe anymore. It's a full-blown movement. Once stuck at the edges of health food culture, unpasteurized milk has grown into something much bigger, a widespread phenomenon that's rooted in wellness trends and a deep institutional distrust that keeps pulling people in. And they're drinking it. More than 10 million Americans drink it.

Why Pediatricians Are Alarmed

Most scientists and health experts agree that raw milk has no significant, proven nutritional benefits over its pasteurized counterpart. It can't treat disease. It can't cure disease. What it does offer is substantially higher risk, because consumers who choose raw milk face more than 100 times the risk of foodborne illness compared with those who drink pasteurized dairy. That danger is especially acute for young children.

Before milk pasteurization was widely adopted a century ago, thousands of children died each year from diseases linked to contaminated dairy. That history looms over the academy's renewed Raw Milk Ban push. Raw dairy products have contributed to numerous outbreaks of pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. Over the past two years, nine states have experienced outbreaks that regulators have linked to raw dairy. Just last month, federal regulators connected an E. coli outbreak to unpasteurized cheese. Thirteen people fell ill. More than half were young children.

Risk Without Reward

• More than 100 times the risk of foodborne illness compared with pasteurized dairy
• No proven nutritional benefits over pasteurized milk
• Outbreaks linked to raw dairy across nine states in two years

Federal Officials Split

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Congressional Food Safety Caucus, said she takes the academy's guidance "very seriously." "They see firsthand what these illnesses can do to children," she said. "Right now, Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr. cannot even bring himself to tell parents not to give it to their kids." DeLauro added that she was "supportive of any policy that reduces risk of exposure to harmful foods," including warning labels on raw milk products and adequate funding for outbreak prevention and tracking.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has occupied the opposite corner. In his federal role, Kennedy said he was "advocating" for raw milk. He celebrated the release of a Make America Healthy Again report with a toast of raw milk shooters in the White House. The health department did not respond to questions about the pediatric group's new guidance or its call for a Raw Milk Ban.

State Laws Leave Gaps

Federal law restricts raw milk sales across state lines, but each state decides what happens within its own borders. People can legally buy raw milk in all but a handful of states. The options vary.

• Directly from a store
• From a farmer
• Marketed as "pet food"

Proponents have fought hard to expand access and often oppose efforts to limit sales.

The California Outbreak

Two girls got severely sick. It happened last year. They consumed raw goat milk from an unregulated farm in southern California, and the state did little to punish the farmer who sold the families that milk, allowing her to provide her own sample for testing weeks after the outbreak began. And it didn't independently sample her grounds for traces of the pathogen. State investigators have done that in other cases. They don't always, though. It's a gap. We've seen it before, and we can't ignore what it means for the families.

The farmer said her milk tested negative for pathogens, did not cause the outbreak, and claimed the families knowingly bought milk that was not for human consumption. The families deny that account.

Mark McAfee sells raw milk. He's one of the nation's most prolific sellers of it. Social media influencers have amplified his claims and helped him build a $30 million a year business even as regulators have linked it to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that sickened hundreds. The mother of one of the sickened girls, a toddler who nearly died, had read about unpasteurized milk's purported benefits on the website of the Raw Milk Institute, a nonprofit McAfee founded. McAfee has previously defended the claims made on that site. He maintains raw milk has therapeutic benefits. But don't expect him to stop.

Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease doctor in New York City and one of the statement's lead authors, put it bluntly:

"This product is being marketed to families as being beneficial for their kids. They don't see the risks, and unwittingly they end up making a decision that is much more dangerous."

Members of the academy said they reviewed investigative coverage of raw milk illnesses as they drafted their guidance.

What Comes Next

In 2014, the academy first endorsed a nationwide Raw Milk Ban. It urged its members to reach out to state representatives. The statement published this week reaffirms that appeal with recent epidemiological evidence, and it also cites growing concern about highly pathogenic avian influenza, which has been shown to contaminate unpasteurized milk. So the push continues.

Racine said the policy was updated in part because of "the rise in the discussion about the alleged benefits of raw milk and the fact that more people are experimenting with using it."

"Prevention really is the best single way to keep children healthy and safe, and this is a preventive move. The more that we can disseminate this information to a greater number of people, the healthier we're going to be able to keep the children of this country."

That is the academy's central argument for a Raw Milk Ban. Whether federal officials will listen remains an open question.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the American Academy of Pediatrics call for in its revised policy statement?

The American Academy of Pediatrics renewed calls for a nationwide Raw Milk Ban in a revised policy statement. The organization urged a nationwide prohibition on the sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk and other raw dairy products, pushing for rules that would apply across every state and every market.

Why are pediatricians alarmed about raw milk consumption, according to the article?

Most scientists and health experts agree that raw milk has no significant, proven nutritional benefits over its pasteurized counterpart, and it cannot treat or cure disease. Consumers who choose raw milk face more than 100 times the risk of foodborne illness compared with those who drink pasteurized dairy, a danger that is especially acute for young children.

How did the academy's 2014 position compare with the statement published this week?

In 2014, the academy first endorsed a nationwide Raw Milk Ban and urged its members to reach out to state representatives. The statement published this week reaffirms that appeal with recent epidemiological evidence and also cites growing concern about highly pathogenic avian influenza, which has been shown to contaminate unpasteurized milk.

Who has taken a position opposing the pediatric group's guidance on raw milk?

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has occupied the opposite corner, saying in his federal role that he was advocating for raw milk and celebrating the release of a Make America Healthy Again report with a toast of raw milk shooters in the White House. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who chairs the Congressional Food Safety Caucus, said she takes the academy's guidance very seriously and criticized Kennedy for not telling parents to avoid it.

What gaps in state regulation and enforcement does the article describe?

Federal law restricts raw milk sales across state lines, but each state decides what happens within its own borders, and people can legally buy raw milk in all but a handful of states. In the California outbreak, two girls got severely sick after consuming raw goat milk from an unregulated farm, and the state did little to punish the farmer, allowing her to provide her own sample weeks after the outbreak began and not independently sampling her grounds for traces of the pathogen.