Travelers to the US who may be tempted to drink the health food delicacy have been warned that doing so poses a risk of serious illness.
Raw milk is favored by celebrities including Manchester City striker Erling Haaland Actor Gwyneth Paltrow and other converts have raved about its health benefits. But experts have largely debunked these claims and warned that it is “dangerous” to consume.
Alarmingly, this advice appears to be being ignored and consumption has actually increased since the highly pathogenic avian influenza strain known as HPAI was detected in US dairy herds. Some people tend to mistakenly believe that drinking raw milk containing the virus provides immunity.
Data reveals huge jump in raw milk consumption
According to data provided to Yahoo! by Nielsen IQ, the world’s largest database of consumer purchasing behavior, the amount spent on raw milk in the first week of May increased by 22.5% compared to the same period last year. There was found. Looking back to when HPAI was first detected in U.S. cattle on March 25, consumption rates rose even further, and within weeks sales soared to more than 65% in 2023 numbers.
In the U.S., milk prices rose only 1.5% year-over-year, so Nielsen IQ believes the change in spending is likely due to an increase in units sold. Fortunately for health authorities, however, the amount spent on raw milk remains low, between US$52,000 ($77,000) and US$60,000 ($89,000) annually, compared to hundreds of millions of dollars for pasteurized sales. .
Includes purchases at supermarkets and drugstores, but does not include direct sales.
Related: Are KFC, eggs and dairy products safe from the spread of bird flu?
Why the dairy industry isn’t concerned about rising raw milk prices
Matt Herrick, senior vice president of consumer affairs at the International Dairy Products Association, recommended cutting back on raw milk consumption, but downplayed concerns about increased consumption.
“Raw milk consumption is always a recipe for disaster,” he told Yahoo News.
” [US Food and Drug Administration] It has been clear for decades that unpasteurized milk is dangerous and no one should consume it. At the same time, this product we are talking about attracts a lot of media attention, since it represents less than 1 percent of the total sales of milk on a given day. ”
What is driving raw milk consumption?
Some customers purchase raw milk under the mistaken belief that consuming raw milk provides immunity against bird flu. Enthusiasts told the Los Angeles Times that they believe warnings about the dangers of consuming raw milk are “fear-mongering.”
California-based Raw Milk Research Institute told the magazine that customers “are seeking H5N1 milk because they are seeking immunity to H5N1 milk.”
Are Australian dairy products affected by bird flu?
Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious disease expert at the Australian National University and Canberra Hospital, told Yahoo in May that it was unlikely that Australian cattle were infected with HPAI. Oceania is the only region free of the virus, and livestock regulations prevent cattle from being fed poultry waste, one suspected route of infection.
Over the past 20 years, around 900 people have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza, and 460 have died. The virus has decimated populations of other mammals such as sea lions and mink, but the rate of human infection remains lower than some experts initially feared.
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