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Local stores such as Natural Selection, Mother Truckers and BriarPatch regularly carry raw milk on store shelves.
In two weeks, consumers, dairy farmers and doctors will gather at the Capitol along with federal food safety experts to educate state legislatures about the potential health benefits and risks of drinking raw milk.
The Senate agricultural committee and the select committee on food-borne illness will hear information about raw milk during a joint hearing scheduled from 3 to 9 p.m. April 15 in the state Capitol's Room 4203.
The meeting will help legislatures develop a better understanding of raw milk and proper standards for producing the product at a time when the food has come under intense scrutiny.
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that drinking unpasteurized milk is unsafe because it contains a wide variety of harmful bacteria including Salmonella, E. coli and others that may cause illness or death.
The FDA prohibits the sale of unpasteurized milk in package form for human consumption while California allows it. Only two dairies are licensed to sell raw milk in the state.
The Senate agricultural committee and the select committee on food-borne illness will hear information about raw milk during a joint hearing scheduled from 3 to 9 p.m. April 15 in the state Capitol's Room 4203.
The meeting will help legislatures develop a better understanding of raw milk and proper standards for producing the product at a time when the food has come under intense scrutiny.
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that drinking unpasteurized milk is unsafe because it contains a wide variety of harmful bacteria including Salmonella, E. coli and others that may cause illness or death.
The FDA prohibits the sale of unpasteurized milk in package form for human consumption while California allows it. Only two dairies are licensed to sell raw milk in the state.
From 1998 to 2005, 45 outbreaks of food-borne illness linked to consuming unpasteurized milk products resulted in 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations and two deaths, according to a 2007 news release from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Yet thousands of Californians drink raw milk daily without getting sick. In fact, they argue, drinking the "good bacteria" in raw milk boosts their immune system and helps fight illness.
Raw food trend
In Nevada County, a raw food niche has been rapidly growing and a number of people from the county are planning to attend the Sacramento hearing.
"Yes, there will be a lot of people from here going. It's a very big issue," said Rita de Quercus of the Local Food Coalition.
Several natural food stores in the area carry raw milk on store shelves and several family farmers offer raw milk through a quiet underground cow-share program.
BriarPatch Co-op buys and sells more raw milk from Organic Pastures Dairy than any other single store in the state, said the dairy's founder Mark McAfee.
Yet thousands of Californians drink raw milk daily without getting sick. In fact, they argue, drinking the "good bacteria" in raw milk boosts their immune system and helps fight illness.
Raw food trend
In Nevada County, a raw food niche has been rapidly growing and a number of people from the county are planning to attend the Sacramento hearing.
"Yes, there will be a lot of people from here going. It's a very big issue," said Rita de Quercus of the Local Food Coalition.
Several natural food stores in the area carry raw milk on store shelves and several family farmers offer raw milk through a quiet underground cow-share program.
BriarPatch Co-op buys and sells more raw milk from Organic Pastures Dairy than any other single store in the state, said the dairy's founder Mark McAfee.
The Fresno-based dairy is the largest licensed raw milk dealer in the state. Each week, the dairy sells to 35,000 to 40,000 consumers, said McAfee.
"It's just different milk nutritionally. You're talking about two different worlds," McAfee said.
The co-op sells 180 half-gallons of raw milk each week along with a whole spectrum of other raw milk products such as butter, cheese, kefir and cream.
"We'd take more if we had space. We always sell out," said Bill Keogh, bulk and perishable foods manager for the store. No one has ever reported an illness related to raw milk purchased from the store, Keogh said.
Raw vs. pasteurized debate
There are two kinds of milk in the state -- one kind that is intended to be pasteurized and another that is intended for direct consumption, McAfee said.
Milk produced for pasteurization is co-mingled in one large milk tank with milk from other dairies, increasing the chance of introduced pathogens, McAfee said.
"It's just different milk nutritionally. You're talking about two different worlds," McAfee said.
The co-op sells 180 half-gallons of raw milk each week along with a whole spectrum of other raw milk products such as butter, cheese, kefir and cream.
"We'd take more if we had space. We always sell out," said Bill Keogh, bulk and perishable foods manager for the store. No one has ever reported an illness related to raw milk purchased from the store, Keogh said.
Raw vs. pasteurized debate
There are two kinds of milk in the state -- one kind that is intended to be pasteurized and another that is intended for direct consumption, McAfee said.
Milk produced for pasteurization is co-mingled in one large milk tank with milk from other dairies, increasing the chance of introduced pathogens, McAfee said.
Raw milk intended for human consumption comes from one source and is bottled at the farm. McAfee's cows are grass-fed rather than grain-fed and do not receive antibiotics or hormones.
Feeding grains to ruminants upsets the animals' stomachs, brewing indigestion and forming a higher degree of bacteria such as E.coli in their gut, McAfee said. Pasteurizing kills those germs but isn't necessary with healthy pasture-fed cows, McAfee said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contends that raw milk is never safe and pasteurization does not affect milk's nutritional content.
Naturally occurring coliform bacteria found in raw milk actually fights unwanted pathogens in the human body, McAfee said.
Organic Pastures Dairy and Claravale Dairy Inc. are engaged in a lawsuit fighting raw milk testing standards set forth by legislation known as AB 1735 set forth earlier this year.
McAfee swears his milk is safe. In 2006, two children were hospitalized after allegedly drinking Organic Pasture Dairy milk, but a clear connection was never confirmed and could have been caused by eating raw spinach, McAfee said.
E. coli and Listeria monocytogene have never been found in tests conducted at Organic Pastures Dairy, McAfee contends.
"We test all of our milk for bad bugs and we haven't found one yet," he said.
Feeding grains to ruminants upsets the animals' stomachs, brewing indigestion and forming a higher degree of bacteria such as E.coli in their gut, McAfee said. Pasteurizing kills those germs but isn't necessary with healthy pasture-fed cows, McAfee said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contends that raw milk is never safe and pasteurization does not affect milk's nutritional content.
Naturally occurring coliform bacteria found in raw milk actually fights unwanted pathogens in the human body, McAfee said.
Organic Pastures Dairy and Claravale Dairy Inc. are engaged in a lawsuit fighting raw milk testing standards set forth by legislation known as AB 1735 set forth earlier this year.
McAfee swears his milk is safe. In 2006, two children were hospitalized after allegedly drinking Organic Pasture Dairy milk, but a clear connection was never confirmed and could have been caused by eating raw spinach, McAfee said.
E. coli and Listeria monocytogene have never been found in tests conducted at Organic Pastures Dairy, McAfee contends.
"We test all of our milk for bad bugs and we haven't found one yet," he said.
