American Academy of Pediatrics Renews Call for Ban on Raw Milk
The American Academy of Pediatrics wants raw milk gone. Not just labeled better or kept away from kids, but banned outright.
In an updated policy statement out this week, the group renewed its push to stop the sale and distribution of raw milk and other raw dairy products across the country, including raw cheeses. Its reasoning hasn’t changed much over the years. Unpasteurized dairy raises the risk of infections that can kill, and the idea that it’s somehow healthier than regular milk doesn’t hold up when you look at the science.
What has changed is the backdrop. Raw milk has gone from a niche farm product to something people actively seek out, and it’s now legal to sell in at least 27 states.
The statement, published in the November issue of Pediatrics, focuses on the two groups doctors worry about most: children and people who are pregnant. It was put together by the AAP’s infectious disease and nutrition committees and replaces guidance that dates back to 2014.
Dr. Adam Ratner, who led the effort, didn’t soften it. Raw milk isn’t better for you than pasteurized milk, he said. It’s riskier.
So What’s Actually In It?
Raw milk comes straight from cows, goats or sheep without being pasteurized, which is the heating step that kills harmful bacteria. Without it, milk can carry E. coli, listeria and salmonella. Those infections can be rough on anyone. For a toddler or a pregnant woman, they can turn dangerous fast.
People sometimes assume the risk stops at drinking milk. It doesn’t. Ratner pointed out that yogurt and ice cream made from raw milk can carry the same germs, and even aged hard cheeses can still spread infection.
Kids and pregnant people aren’t the only ones in the danger zone, either. The statement puts older adults and people with weak immune systems, like transplant patients, in that same high-risk category alongside babies.
Then there’s bird flu. This is the newest piece of the puzzle and a big reason the guidance got a refresh. Research suggests H5N1 can move from infected dairy cows into their milk, build up to high levels and survive in refrigerated raw milk for up to five weeks.
When the virus tore through U.S. dairy herds in 2024, infectious H5N1 showed up in close to a quarter of raw milk samples taken from affected areas. No one has been confirmed to have caught it from drinking raw milk yet. Doctors don’t find that especially comforting. The AAP calls it a credible threat that’s still emerging.
The group is even telling physicians what to watch for. If someone drank raw milk and then comes down with flu symptoms, particularly pink eye, they should be evaluated for H5N1 with help from the local health department.
But Isn’t Raw Milk More Nutritious?
That’s the argument you’ll hear most often, and the AAP took it on directly. Based on the research it reviewed, pasteurized milk holds onto basically the same amounts of fat, lactose, calcium, magnesium and zinc. One 2011 analysis found riboflavin, or vitamin B2, was the only vitamin in milk that dropped after pasteurization.
Some proteins do break down in the heating process, like lactoferrin and immunoglobulins. The AAP’s response is essentially that nobody drinks milk for those.
Dr. Mark Corkins, one of the co-authors, said he understands why parents are drawn to raw milk. A lot of them have heard it’s more natural or better for their kids. The evidence just says otherwise.
As for the law, it’s a patchwork. Federal rules already ban shipping raw milk across state lines, though there’s a carve-out for cheese labeled as unpasteurized and aged at least 60 days. Within state borders, it depends where you live.
The Bottom Line
The AAP wants that cleaned up with one nationwide ban covering every type of unpasteurized milk and milk product, fresh, soft and soft-ripened cheeses included.
Whether lawmakers go along with it is another story. Raw milk has strong supporters, and plenty of states have moved to loosen the rules, not tighten them. But for parents trying to figure out what to pour in their kid’s cup, the country’s pediatricians have made their answer about as plain as it gets. Stick with pasteurized.
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