Myth: Raw Milk Is Safe and Can Cure Allergies
Many people believe raw (unpasteurized) milk is the healthier, more natural option—that it has extra nutrients, beneficial bacteria, and health perks that pasteurization destroys. Some think it helps with allergies, improves digestion, and strengthens immunity. But while raw milk does have a certain appeal, especially among those wanting less-processed foods, assuming it’s broadly safe or significantly better than pasteurized milk ignores key risks and the actual evidence.
Myth vs. Reality
Yes, raw milk may have tiny advantages in some contexts: for example, some epidemiological studies find associations between consumption of farm-milk (which may include raw unboiled milk) early in life and lower rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, respiratory infections, and ear infections among children (Raw Milk Institute; meta-analysis findings). But these studies are observational, and they don’t establish causation—correlation doesn’t mean raw milk caused the benefit, and typically “farm milk” includes many environmental and lifestyle factors (e.g. exposure to animals, microbes, diets, outdoor living) that might drive the differences. At the same time, the safety data make clear that raw milk presents substantial risk. A 2025 outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium in California (171 people, many children) was traced to commercially distributed raw milk and raw dairy products. (Weinstein et al., 2025). Also, public health authorities like the CDC and FDA consistently emphasize that pasteurization kills harmful pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter, etc., which raw milk can carry (CDC, 2025; “Raw Milk Microbiology” articles). Nutritional differences between raw and pasteurized milk are minimal; many vitamins that raw milk advocates emphasize are heat-labile are present in such low quantities or are stable enough that pasteurization doesn’t meaningfully change their contribution in a typical diet (FDA/CDC reviews, Harvard Health).
What Actually Matters
If you're considering raw milk, you may want to take some things into consideration. Such as your immune status (young children, elderly, pregnant people, immunocompromised are at higher risk of becoming ill from drinking it), whether the raw milk is produced under very high hygiene standards (though even then risks can’t be eliminated), how it’s handled and stored, and what your motivation is to drink it (e.g. do you expect raw milk to solve allergies? That expectation might not be supported). Since pasteurized milk provides almost all the same essential nutrients and safer microbiological profile, many health organizations recommend choosing pasteurized milk.
The bottom line is that there is far more evidence to show the benefits and safety of consuming pasteurized milk. If you choose to drink raw milk you’re putting yourself in a risky situation for benefits that may or may not even come from consuming it—so treating it as universally better or safe is misleading and can lead to avoidable illness.
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References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium Infections Linked to Commercially Distributed Raw Milk — California and Four Other States, September 2023–March 2024. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 74(27). https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7427a1
Raw Milk Microbiology: Unfiltered and Unfriendly. (2025, May 13). American Society for Microbiology. Retrieved from https://asm.org/articles/2025/may/raw-milk-microbiology-unfiltered-and-unfriendly ASM.org
Why Drinking Raw Milk Can Be Dangerous. (2024, July 11). Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved fromhttps://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-drinking-raw-milk-can-be-dangerous