Families choosing unpasteurized milk

WESTON -- The small white refrigerator in Victoria Spencer's garage is jammed full of red-capped jugs with warning labels attached, not unlike the cautions printed on packages of cigarettes.

The potentially hazardous contents? Milk. Raw milk, that is, which -- as the label warns -- has not undergone the pasteurization process that ''destroys organisms that may be harmful to human health."

Despite the risks, Spencer has been serving the milk to her family, including her 4-year-old twin girls and 2½-year-old son, for nearly a year.

''Drinking raw milk -- it's what they do all over the world, all over Europe," said Spencer, 40, of Weston. And by purchasing milk from certified dairies, she said, ''you feel like you're a little bit more in control of the process than going to the supermarket, where there's no control of the process."

Some residents in the suburbs west of Boston are taking an interest in drinking raw milk, saying they believe the benefits outweigh what the experts say could be a hazardous dietary choice that puts them at risk of illnesses from infection by the bacteria listeria, salmonella, or E. coli.

Alfred DeMaria, director of communicable disease control for the state's Department of Public Health, warns that the dangers are indeed real.

''Pasteurization was invented because milk was a real source of human disease up until the 20th century, including TB and typhoid. The reason we don't see these outbreaks anymore is [that] most milk is pasteurized. There's very little raw milk out there," said DeMaria.

''There's no doubt it's a dangerous food. People make their own decisions, but they're doing something hazardous," said DeMaria.

Pasteurization is the use of heat to kill harmful bacteria that may be present in the milk. During pasteurization, raw milk is heated to 161 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds and then immediately cooled.

Just Dairy, a group formed in 2003 by Cyndy Gray of Manchester-by-the-Sea, is pushing for more raw milk consumption; Spencer's home is part of the group's distribution network, a place where people come to pick up their gallons.

Raw milk advocates say drinkers benefit from higher vitamin content and increased beneficial enzymes and bacteria; the environment benefits because the farms that produce the milk are friendlier to the environment; and raw milk sales help sustain local dairy farmers.

Her group so far has bought $34,000 worth of the milk, Gray said.

Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation, said there's a ''national trend" of interest in raw milk, but statistics on the number of drinkers aren't available.

In New England, raw milk sales are permitted, with various restrictions, in Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Rhode Island bans the sales.

Many Massachusetts boards of health have prohibited raw milk sales in retail stores, but they cannot prohibit its sale on farms, known as ''gate sales."

That means the nearly 80 families in Just Dairy, who include families from Hopkinton, Natick, Needham, Newton, Weston, and Waltham, as well as other Boston suburbs, participate in an elaborate carpooling program, taking turns to make a four-hour round trip to two licensed raw milk dairies in Western Massachusetts, where they purchase their milk for $5 per gallon.

Chase Hill Farm in Warwick and Rocky Acres Farms in Warren were selected by the group because of members' insistence that the milk come from pasture-fed -- rather than grain-fed -- cows. Gray said she's also confident of the farms' cleanliness and milk-handling procedures.

According to Gray, interest in Just Dairy has been brisk, and she's fielding nearly a dozen new inquiries a week from people interested in raw milk.

At Chase Hill Farm, Jeannette Fellows and her husband, Mark, have 27 cows. Fellows said she's very aware of the growing interest in raw milk.

In previous years, her farm sold an average of 35 to 40 gallons a week. Last year that amount increased to 100 to 125 gallons a week, in addition to their thriving raw-milk cheese operation.

Eight dairies in Massachusetts are licensed for raw milk gate sales -- the majority of them in the western part of the state, a state official said.

William Gillmeister, agricultural economist for the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources, said his department sets stricter guidelines for milk intended for raw milk consumption.

''Bacterial counts cannot exceed 100,000 per milliliter for milk that's going to be pasteurized. Milk that's going for retail sales of raw milk, the limit is 20,000 units per milliliter, so it's much less," said Gillmeister.

Despite the precautions, troubles with raw milk have been in the news recently. Last month, Berkshire Blue Cheese, a raw-milk cheese made by Berkshire Cheese Makers in Great Barrington, was recalled when the bacteria listeria, which can cause anything from mild flu-like symptoms to brain infection and death, was discovered during FDA sampling. Owner Michael Miller said all wheels of the Berkshire Blue have since been recovered, and no one became ill.

The FDA issued a health warning in March against raw soft cheeses after several New York City residents contracted tuberculosis after eating queso fresco-style cheeses, imported from Mexico or consumed in Mexico.

And twice in 1998, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health warned people to stay away from raw milk. At a farm in Lunenburg, nearly 60 people were exposed to rabies after drinking raw milk from an infected cow. In another incident that year, several children contracted salmonella after drinking raw milk from a dairy in Pittsfield during a farm visit.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2001 more than 300 people in the United States became ill from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk. In 2002, that number was 200.

Hopkinton resident Kathy Mosher, who first learned of raw milk during a nutrition course she took in November, is a convert.

''I never knew there was such a thing as raw milk," said Mosher. ''Now I want to spread the word."

I want to support local farmers," she said. ''It's great for the environment, and it's much more nutritious. Like anything else, people shouldn't be scared of it."