Raw Milk is not Poison

This Letter was Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist print edition, but for some reason did not make it onto their website.

Minister Chong’s response to a recent editorial about over-regulation of food production refers to a “widely recognized” threat of illness and disease represented by raw milk, using the image of children dying as a defense.

What she does not bother to address in her haste to arouse fear is the reason why people would choose this “dangerous” product over the widely available pasteurized variety. People choose raw milk because it has not been subjected to the negative effects of making milk “safe”. The process of pasteurization kills the good bacteria along with the bad, making milk a far less healthy product than it has the potential to be.

Similarly, governments that issue blanket edicts about what is safe to consume based on the opinion of a few “experts” remove choice from the market and demonize wholesome, centuries-old ways of living for the sake of political expedience.