Raw Milk and Raw Dairy Products

What You Need to Know

Raw milk and dairy products made with raw milk can contain harmful germs that can make people sick.
Anyone can get sick from germs in raw milk, but people with weakened immune systems, children, older adults, and people who are pregnant are more likely to get very sick.
The best way to prevent getting sick from germs in raw milk is to choose pasteurized milk and dairy products made with pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is the special process of heating milk to a high enough temperature to kill harmful germs that can be found in milk.

What is unpasteurized (“raw”) milk?

Unpasteurized milk—sometimes called “raw” milk—is milk that has not been treated to remove harmful germs through a process called pasteurization. When milk is pasteurized, it is heated to a temperature that kills harmful germs.

Pasteurization is an important step in getting milk safely from the farm to your table. Germs found in the environment can contaminate milk at any point in the production process. Most commonly, germs that get into milk come from animal feces (poop). Even on the cleanest farms, poop particles are found:

On and around an animal’s udder
(the part of a cow, goat, or other animal that produces milk)
In the environment (including in soil, water, or animal poop/manure)
On the equipment used to milk an animal

Illustration of machinery milking cows

Eating or drinking unpasteurized milk products can make people sick. When someone drinks raw (unpasteurized) milk, they also are drinking any germs that are in the raw milk. These germs can make a person sick. Disease-causing germs can also be sometimes found in dairy products (such as cheese and cream) that are made from raw milk.

Cows infected with bird flu can shed the virus in their milk, but pasteurization makes dairy products safe to consume. See CDPH’s bird flu webpage for more information.

What are the health risks of eating or drinking something made with raw milk?

Raw milk and dairy products made from raw milk can contain harmful microbes such as:

Although not as common in California, raw milk can also contain germs such as Brucella, Cryptosporidium, Mycobacterium bovis, and Yersinia. Many of these germs naturally live in the intestines of farm animals.

Germs from raw milk can make people sick. The bacteria most commonly found in raw milk can cause symptoms such as:

Diarrhea
Stomach cramps
Vomiting
Fever

Other conditions such as muscle weakness and paralysis (from Campylobacter), sudden kidney failure and anemia (from STEC), or miscarriage (from Listeria monocytogenes) can also occur.

Isn’t raw milk supposed to be healthy?

There is no difference in the nutritional value between raw milk and pasteurized milk. Just because raw milk is called “raw” does not mean it is better for you than pasteurized milk. Raw milk is not the same as organic milk or milk that comes from grass-fed animals. Raw milk can still contain harmful bacteria and other germs even if it is organic, from grass-fed animals, or from very clean farms.

Raw milk also cannot give you “good bacteria” (sometimes called probiotics). Probiotics can be found in pasteurized dairy products such as yogurt or kefir, which are safer to eat than raw milk.

For more questions and answers about raw milk, please see the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Raw Milk Questions & Answers webpage.

Some people may prefer to buy foods that aren’t processed, but some food processing actually helps keep people safe. Cooking is a type of processing that helps destroy germs in foods like raw meat without changing its nutritional value. Similarly, milk is pasteurized to kill harmful germs that can make people sick.

Are raw milk and raw milk products available in California?

Raw milk from cows, sheep, and goats may be legally sold in California if a dairy farm in California meets specific requirements for sanitation and licensing. Animals at the facilities and farms that are approved to sell raw milk in California must be tested for specific diseases, including brucellosis and tuberculosis. Farm workers at these facilities must also be free from infectious germs that can contaminate milk and make people sick.

However, these requirements cannot guarantee that a dairy farm will produce raw milk dairy products that are free from harmful germs. These requirements also cannot guarantee that raw milk products are as safe to eat or drink as pasteurized milk products. That is why farms that produce and sell raw milk must include a warning label on all raw milk dairy products that tells people that the product they are buying may contain germs that can make them sick. In fact, although these precautions and legal requirements are in place, contamination of raw milk still occurs, and there have been recent disease outbreaks and recalls of raw milk products in California.

Examples of Recalls of Raw
Milk Products in California

Examples of Outbreaks in California Linked to Raw Dairy Products

For more information about foodborne outbreaks and product contamination in California, including outbreaks related to raw milk, please see the CDPH Food and Drug Branch Environmental Investigation Reports webpage.

Raw Milk and Dairy Products from Outside of California

It is against the law to sell or distribute raw milk across state lines in the U.S., meaning raw milk produced outside of California cannot be sold in California. However, raw cheese aged for at least 60 days can be produced outside of California and sold in California. Raw cheese that is aged (such as raw cheddar) can be sold in stores, farms, and farmer’s markets in California. But it's important to know that even 60-day aged cheese may not be free of harmful germs.

Other types of cheese and dairy products made from unpasteurized milk are available in other countries, including Mexico, and can be brought into California. Many of these products are sold by vendors who don’t have a license to sell dairy products or are selling products that aren’t regulated for health and safety. The information on the labels of dairy products from other countries may not say if the milk was pasteurized or where the product was made. Products sold at open markets, roadside stands, or street vendors may not have a label at all. Unpasteurized dairy products from Mexico (including queso fresco and other soft cheeses) have been associated with many illnesses and outbreaks of disease in California in people who either ate the products while in Mexico or brought them back to California. The best way to protect yourself from getting sick is to eat and drink only dairy products that are clearly labeled as “pasteurized.”

Who is more likely to get sick from raw milk?

Anyone can get sick from raw milk, but people with weakened immune systems (such as those with cancer, diabetes, or HIV/AIDS), children, older adults, and people who are pregnant are more likely to get sick from germs in raw milk.

How can I protect my family and myself from germs in raw milk?

The best way to prevent illness from raw milk is to choose and use pasteurized milk. Cheese (especially queso fresco and other soft cheeses) and other dairy products (yogurt, ice cream) should be made with milk that has been pasteurized.
Be sure to keep all milk and dairy products in the refrigerator at a temperature of 40°F or below. When milk is not kept cold, germs can start to grow in the milk, even if it has been pasteurized. To be safe, milk that has been out of the refrigerator for more than two hours should be thrown away.

Illustration of the milk production process from milking to delivering pasteurized milk to the store

How do I know if a dairy product is pasteurized?

Raw milk products can look the same as pasteurized milk products, so you need to check the label to make sure what you are buying or about to eat or drink has been pasteurized. When buying milk, read information available on the product packaging and look for labels that clearly say “pasteurized” or “ultra-pasteurized.” A pasteurization label is often on the front of the container or near the nutritional facts.

Milk carton label that says the milk is pasteurized Woman reading the label on a dairy product at the grocery store

When buying products made with milk (such as soft cheeses), look for products that have “pasteurized milk” listed in the ingredients, often near the nutrition facts.

Man reading cheese label at a grocery store Queso Fresco cheese label showing pasteurized milk in ingredients