Why I drive for an hour and a half to purchase raw milk from a local farmer:
(The homogenization stuff particularly creeps me out. And the additives part.)
(I've taken the following information from the brochure "RAW MILK: Nature's Nutrient-Rich Food," published by Sandra Redemski and Joyce R. Young, N.D.)
PASTEURIZATION
Pasteurization heat destroys valuable enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile mile proteins, virtually destroys vitamins B6 and B12, and kills beneficial bacteria.
Pasteurization is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems and ear infections in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.
Pasteurization sterilizes milk, creating the perfect medium for pathogens to grow if post-pasteurization contamination occurs. Extensive records show that raw milk from healthy cows has a high safety record and that pasteurized milk does not, having caused thousands of cases of bacterial diseases. Those records show that certified raw milk products have never been proven to cause a fatality, but pastuerized milk has caused many.
Pasteurized milk turns putrid. Raw milk sours naturally and safely. Proponents of pasteurization have used lies, blatant propaganda and fear tactics to achieve consumer acceptance. Pasteurization can promote carelessness and discourage efforts to produce clean milk. pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations.
HOMOGENIZATION
Homogenization is a process that forces milk through hair-like tubes under pressure, generating intense turbulent eddies which tear apart milk fat glubules, greatly reducing their size. The original membrane of the fat globule is damaged or lost and the exposed surfaces absorb milk proteins, especially caseins. The increased allergenicity of homogenized milk may be caused by these milk proteins in the fat globule membrane.Homogenization greatly increases the fat surface area which increases fat oxidation and creates off-flavors. Processors began to homogenize milk so consumers would not know how little fat was in the milk.
MILK STANDARDIZATION
Milk standardization is the dividing and putting back together of milk to meet regulatory standards. Milk components (cream and skim milk) are separated and put back together for the typle of product sold (1%, 2%, and 3% whole) to meet the legal minimum requirements, with additives for taste, consistency, etc. The finished processed milk product is totally different from the original milk.
ADDITIVES
Additives are common in commercial milk. Synthetic vitamin D additives cause calcification of soft tissues and the softening of the hard tissues. Powdered skim milk, a source of dangerous oxidized cholesterol and neurotoxic proteins, is added to 1% and 2% milk. Some producers now add vegetable oils to milk products. These oils have been linked to arteriosclerosis, heart disease and multiple sclerosis. Low-fat yogurts and sour creams contain mucopolysaccharide gums to give them body.
Many mass-produced cheeses contain bioengineered enzymes and additives. Imitation cheese products made from vegetable oils are passed off as milk products. Milk and milk products have a US Agricultural Department "Standard of Identity" which allows processors to put anything in the products as long as they heat them, without listing all the ingredients on the label.
(Special Issue: Health hazards of Milk, 2002, J. of Nutritional and Environmental medicine, 12 (3):141-266; Jensen, Robert G., Handbook of Milk Composition, 1995.)
