The Central Kentucky News-Leader published an editorial written by William R Henning, Professor Emeritus of Animal and Food Science at Penn State University, on the topic of raw milk on February 1.  In the editorial, Mr. Henning writes:

No, raw milk will not cause widespread disease and death and will not ruin agriculture. However, as a scientist who has had a career working on food safety and with food science, this whole argument is an argument against everything I was ever taught. Especially if it is fueled and fomented by a group that consists of anti-government, anti-technology, anti-business radicals who use feelings and testimonials to make their decisions.

We know that raw milk can contain many different pathogens, including Listeria, Salmonella, E coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, Brucella and others. Most of these will not kill people, but we know that in other states raw milk has killed children. Does it happen often? No, but who is going to tell the parents who lost their child that it is not that dangerous because it doesn’t happen often? Who is willing to take that risk?

The entire editorial can be accessed here.