A little graph I drew up of the top 24 developed countries and whether they allow people to sell raw milk.

You can see the breakdown for the USA here.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-02/nrn-raw-milk-cheese/6061270

A meeting of ministers responsible for food standards, known as the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, was held in New Zealand last week, with ministers citing their concern about consumption of unpasteurised (raw) cow’s milk that is sold as ‘bath milk’.

“People who consume raw milk are at an increased risk of infection causing severe illness and potentially death,” the ministers said in a communique released after the forum.

They could have said “People who consume raw carrots are at an increased risk of infection causing severe illness and potentially death.” Technically true.

They could equally have said “People who consume raw milk are at a reduced risk of developing allergies.” Technically true.

The Age: ‘He turned grey’: Mother of child who fell ill after drinking raw milk speaks out’

The Age: Calls to ban raw milk after death of Melbourne toddler

mamamia.com: Raw milk is dangerous

ABC News: Raw milk company Mountain View Farm defends product after 3yo’s death

Newcastle Herald:OPINION: Pasteurisation essential to make milk safe

Courier Mail: A toddler is dead because of our unhealthy obsession with “healthy” living… 

“In this latest tragedy, five children were struck down with serious illnesses after consuming the contaminated milk in Victoria, including a three-year-old who contracted fatal haemolytic uraemic syndrome…”

ACCC reports that raw milk is recalled

And so on.

It seems everyone is interested in this… Google trend shows a huge spike in the search for ‘raw milk’ in Dec 2014.

UPDATE #1: 2 weeks later Victorian Government bans raw milk sales…

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-01/raw-milk-law-start-in-victoria/5996014

“middle-aged men who consumed high-fat milk, butter and cream were significantly less likely to become obese over a period of 12 years”

I like these results, but to be fair,  they prove nothing. It was just a questionnaire that found men who have full fat milk gain less weight.

There could be other causal links. For example, maybe men who have full cream milk are more relaxed, less stressed about weight, and that’s why they lose weight!!! Maybe guys on low fat diets are avoiding other good foods? Maybe the men who have low fat milk have flavoured milk with more sugar. Who knows. But it’s an interesting conclusion….

We found that a low intake of dairy fat was associated with a higher risk of developing central obesity and that a high intake of dairy fat was associated with a lower risk of central obesity among men without central obesity at baseline.

Here’s the article.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/12/275376259/the-full-fat-paradox-whole-milk-may-keep-us-lean