RAWMI vs Grade A PMO State Inpected

Low Risk or High Risk Raw Milk - You get to choose 

At Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy we follow the RAWMI Standards for producing Low Risk Raw Milk. We also test daily before its sold in our on farm lab.

I wanted to take some time to offer some of my knowledge on GRADE A, AKA, PMO/State Inspected standards (high risk) compared to what RAWMI standards (Low Risk) are.

Grade A/PMO/State Inspected milk is produced with the intention to pasteurize the milk and kill bacteria and pathogens.

It's sometimes being offered and sold as raw milk before its pasteurized which can be a high risk that leads to problems since milk produced under the Grade A standards does not produce low risk raw milk. 

RAWMI or Raw Milk Institute has helped lead the raw milk community with proven standards that produce low risk raw milk.

 I am seeing more commercial GRADE A producers entering the raw milk market. They see dollar signs because of their ability to produce at an economy of scale. 

The problem is that the GRADE A producers are not doing the things necessary to produce low risk raw milk such as applying the RAWMI standards when they are choosing to market their milk as raw milk. 

With the popularity of raw milk increasing you will likely see more and more small farms pop up offering raw milk. My concern here is that without standards like RAWMI being applied someone is bound to get sick and that will cause all of us to suffer with more legislation and possibly loss of the raw milk freedom some states like ours here in Missouri realize today. But this I will save for another article. 

Back to Grade A/PMO/State Inspected:

Grade A dairy's are using misleading language with intent for you to believe their current GRADE A system intended for pasteurization is somehow safer.

Here are some statements that should make you run for safety or probe for with more questions.

1.    Our milk is tested by the state
When they say this proudly, the average consumer would think this is what I need. But NO. Testing hurdles by the state are not low risk for unpasteurized milk. I will show some statistics below further in this email.

2.    We are Grade A

Again, with great confidence this misleading statement does not produce low risk raw milk. It means the same thing as above tested by the state. Grade A/PMO/State Inspected standards are (high risk) for raw milk.

3.    Our dairy is clean

Cleanliness can be misleading. While cleanliness is good, it absolutely does not mean low risk raw milk. Only testing of the milk to RAWMI standards for coliform and aerobic plate bacteria with an annual blood work regimen to test for animal disease can promote low risk raw milk. We test for 8 blood born diseases. Johnes, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, Neosporosis, BVD, BLV, TB, Q Fever. We test daily for coliform and standard plate count before milk is sold. 

4.     We have a bulk tank SCC or Somatic Cell Count below 250,000

First lets talk about SCC and what it is.

Somatic Cell Count is a measure of the health of the udder. Its generally accepted that an individual cow with an SCC below 200K is healthy. When a cow gets mastitis that number can sky rocket to nearly 900k or more.

Mastitis is caused by pathogens in the milk and udder. 

Pay Attention on this one. Bulk tank Averages are not the same as individual cow measurements. 

Bulk tank averages mean that you could have 2 cows with 750,000 SCC pooling pathogen mastic milk with good milk from 8 cows at 62,500 SCC for a 200,000 SCC bulk tank average.

It doesn't matter as long as the milk will be pasteurized but it does absolutely matter if you are going to use the milk for raw milk. 

We individually test each cow for SCC and none of our cows are above 75,000 SCC which is well below the accepted healthy udder of 200,000 or below. 

High SCC also contributes to antibiotics usage. Dairy's are one of the highest users of antibiotics at dry-off even if the cow doesn't need it.

Since the GRADE A / PMO standards were written for milk that was intended to be pasteurized to kill the pathogens, mastitis and other bacteria is not of as great of a concern.

So now, if you hear the statements like the ones above intended to mislead you, that their Grade A, State Inspected raw milk if somehow superior you now are educated to know better .

You are now armed to ask more questions to make sure you are getting low risk raw milk and not Commercial, GRADE A, PMO raw milk intended for pasteurization.

Now for some statistics. If you just want to enjoy some low risk raw milk and want to skip the science then go here. Otherwise get ready to explore some facts.
 

Notice in the graph above that the GRADE A PMO raw milk standard tested by the state is off the charts for coliform per millimeter of milk.

This is asking for E-COLI sickness.

Only after its pasteurized does it meet RAWMI standards. Graph courtesy of the Raw Milk Institute AKA RAWMI

Notice in the graph above that the GRADE A PMO raw milk standard tested by the state is off the charts for SPC or Standard Plate Count per millimeter of milk.

SPC is the measure of total bacterial count in the milk.

Even after pasteurization, GRADE A PMO State inspected milk doesn't even come close to RAWMI standards.

Data courtesy of the British Columbia Herdshare Association

Notice in the graph above that pathogens come from raw milk produced for pasteurization.

Raw milk produced for direct consumption using RAWMI methods had zero pathogens.

Not All Raw Milk Is Dangerous!

It is clear that raw milk produced with the intention to be pasteurized is likely to contain dangerous pathogens. This type of raw milk is unsafe, and I would never feed it to my family.

Unfortunately, this type of raw milk’s negative reputation has led many to believe that all raw milk is unsafe to consume.

It is important to note that there is no such thing as a perfectly safe food. An analysis of foodborne illnesses from 2009-2015 showed that the top food categories commonly linked to illnesses were chicken, pork, and seeded vegetables.

Pasteurized milk is not perfectly safe, either, and is implicated in foodborne illnesses and outbreaks every year. 

The CDC outbreak and illness data which is used to assert that raw milk is unsafe does not distinguish raw milk intended for pasteurization from raw milk that is carefully produced and intended for direct human consumption.

It is clear from the above-presented test data that intentionally-produced raw milk is a low-risk food.

In my family, we purposely choose raw milk for its superior nutrition and significant health benefits over pasteurized milk. 

Raw milk contains greater bioavailable nutrients than pasteurized milk, as well as a wide array of beneficial enzymes and probiotics which are known to have benefits on the immune system and gastrointestinal tract.  

Last Paragraph Courtesy of RAWMI.

If you would like to read a more extensive full article from RAWMI you can get to that here.