Food Safety Hazards Associated with Consumption of Raw Milk

Abstract

An increasing number of people are consuming raw unpasteurized milk. Enhanced nutritional qualities, taste, and health benefits have all been advocated as reasons for increased interest in raw milk consumption. However, science-based data to substantiate these claims are limited. People continue to consume raw milk even though numerous epidemiological studies have shown clearly that raw milk can be contaminated by a variety of pathogens, some of which are associated with human illness and disease. Several documented milkborne disease outbreaks occurred from 2000-2008 and were traced back to consumption of raw unpasteurized milk. Numerous people were found to have infections, some were hospitalized, and a few died. In the majority of these outbreaks, the organism associated with the milkborne outbreak was isolated from the implicated product(s) or from subsequent products made at the suspected dairy or source. In contrast, fewer milkborne disease outbreaks were associated with consumption of pasteurized milk during this same time period. Twenty nine states allow the sale of raw milk by some means. Direct purchase, cow-share or leasing programs, and the sale of raw milk as pet food have been used as means for consumers to obtain raw milk. Where raw milk is offered for sale, strategies to reduce risks associated with raw milk and products made from raw milk are needed. Developing uniform regulations including microbial standards for raw milk to be sold for human consumption, labeling of raw milk, improving sanitation during milking, and enhancing and targeting educational efforts are potential approaches to this issue. Development of pre- and postharvest control measures to effectively reduce contamination is critical to the control of pathogens in raw milk. One sure way to prevent raw milk-associated foodborne illness is for consumers to refrain from drinking raw milk and from consuming dairy products manufactured using raw milk.

Sale of Raw Milk in Northern Italy: Food Safety Implications and Comparison of Different Analytical Methodologies for Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

“…Prevalences resulted in agreement with data in literature for VTEC O157:H7 but lower for Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, and thermotolerant Campylobacter (Desmasures et al, 1997;Dontorou et al, 2003;Meyer-Broseta et al, 2003;Oliver et al, 2005Oliver et al, , 2009. Even for paratubercolosis, the amount of herds and samples positive for Map are lower than those reported by other European countries (Corti et al, 2002;Grant et al, 2002;Jayarao et al, 2004;O'Reilly et al, 2004;Ayele et al, 2005;Slana et al, 2008;Nielsen and Toft, 2009), but the positivity of 3% of samples highlights that raw milk consumption can be a significant source of exposure of consumer to Map.…”

“…The presence of pathogenic bacteria in raw milk has been well documented both in Europe and in the United States, but the isolation rate reported has varied considerably (Oliver et al, 2005(Oliver et al, , 2009. In Italy, surveys on foodborne pathogens in raw milk were connected with official controls at vending machines.…”

A multiplex PCR assay for detection of genus Salmonella, subspecies I , and serotype Typhimurium in milk

“…It is estimated that 1.8 million people die annually from diarrheic diseases and a large personas mueren anualmente a causa de enfermedades diarreicas y una gran proporción de estos casos se puede atribuir a la contaminación de alimentos (1) . Entre los principales agentes patógenos causantes de enfermedades diarreicas que se transmiten a través de alimentos se encuentra Salmonella enterica (2) , incluidos la leche y los derivados lácteos (3,4) . La Organización Mundial de la Salud estima que decenas de millones de casos de salmonelosis no tifoidea ocurren en el mundo anualmente, resultando en más de cien mil muertes (5) .…”

“…Salmonella enterica is among the main pathogenic agents causing diarrheic diseases that are transmitted by foodstuffs (2) , including milk and dairy products (3,4) . The World Health Organization estimates that tens of millions of cases of nontyphoideal salmonellosis occur annually worldwide, resulting in over one hundred thousand deaths (5) .…”

“…Tanto los iniciadores empleados por Shanmugasundaram et al (15) como los de Kim et al (11,12) usados en este trabajo, reafirman la especificidad de la región genética STM4497 como específica del serotipo Typhimurium, y por lo tanto, su utilidad para la detección específica de dicho serotipo en muestras de alimentos. Los tres pares de iniciadores pueden emplearse de manera independiente o en un ensayo multiplex, si interesa saber si el serotipo contaminante es Typhimirum, ya que dicho serotipo es el que más comunmente se encuentra contaminando leche y productos lácteos (3) .…”