Date : 9 Feb 2017

Is pasteurization destructive to the nutritional quality of your milk, which milk is better raw milk or conventionally, pasteurized milk? A dairy farmer’s perspective to these important questions
During the 19th and 20th century, food borne illnesses became a serious problem. While milk is a perfect food for people, it’s also a perfect food for bacteria. With more and more people moving to cities, and getting more distant from the source of their food, it became more important to solve spoilage issues, and extend the shelf life of foods. Our food distribution systems were having new problems.
Pasteurization was developed to increase the safety of milk and dairy products. But there is a debate whether this has affected the healthfulness of our milk.

1.  Does pasteurization affect Milk?
A simple Google search will show that there is a lot of controversy about pasteurization and its effect on milk.
Interestingly, pasteurization has not been proven to change the nutrition of the milk in any significant way. The nutritional components in the milk stay roughly the same. The protein and fat in milk are not affected, and there is only a slight reduction of vitamins, mainly a slight loss of vitamins A, C, B, and Folic Acid.graph-pasteurization-vitaminloss.

A study published in the Food Control Journal titled “Raw or heated cow milk consumption: Review of risks and benefits” did not find any support for the notions held that pasteurization compromises the nutritional value of the milk. The researchers concluded that those arguments can be refuted. (source) The study reviewed many health aspects (nutritional value, immunity, allergies, lactose intolerance, diabetes, milk digestibility, etc.), but found that the only major differences between raw and pasteurized milk were sensory characteristics i.e. taste and smell.
Some researchers have found that heat (through pasteurization) will reduce some of the enzymes that are in milk. Some of these enzymes help aid milk digestion, and calcium absorption. However, research on heats effect on the enzymes present in milk hasn’t been conclusive. Pasteurization’s effects on these components of milk need further research.
It seems natural to assume that milk in its natural raw state would be a healthier product. A European study named GABRIELA was done with 8,000 children to study the differences in raw milk drinkers as compared to pasteurized milk drinkers. According to one article:
Some lived in quaint villages and typically drank supermarket milk. Others lived on farms and often drank raw milk. The researchers gathered samples of milk from family fridges across the Alps and gave them to their colleagues for blind testing of the fat content, whey proteins, and bacterial count. GABRIELA found substantive evidence that raw milk-consuming farm kids were much less likely to develop allergies including asthma and dermatitis during childhood. (source)
Even though the study suggested that the raw milk drinkers were healthier, it’s not conclusive. The kids in each group were subject to different environments. The study presents a new topic of discussion – is our modern hand-sanitize nation weakening our immune systems. The farm kids in the study may have been healthier due to the simple fact that they were being exposed to far more bacteria. The farm kids had far stronger more active immune systems.

Thus drinking your way to a good night’s sleep might be beneficial due to the following reasons:

Drinking Milk at night facilitates the sleep process, as it contains the amino acid tryptophan, which helps in increasing the melatonin (also known as the sleep hormone) level in the body.
Milk is a good source of calcium, which is important for maintaining bone health .Also the calcium will be absorbed optimally due to low activity levels in the evening.
Proteins present may be beneficial for those trying to gain lean muscle mass.
As with everything else in life you will find different outlooks. Have a look at the few factors below you must take into consideration too.

 2.  Raw Milk vs. Pasteurized Milk

This debate is often a very dividing topic for not only consumers, but even people within the dairy industry. Which is better, and which should you choose? The topic ultimately boils down to a few main points:
Raw vs pasteurized points
The main points of each side of the raw vs. pasteurized milk debate
Raw milk drinkers say that milk in its raw form is healthier, and better for your body to digest. Raw milk is “untouched,” and in its natural form. One could argue that more exposure to bacteria builds up the immune system, rather than weakening it due to a lack of exposure. People not used to drinking raw milk often have difficulty drinking raw milk at first due to the sudden exposure to higher bacterial loads. Perhaps it is healthy to have some level of exposure to bacteria. But this exposure to bacteria could easily become a negative experience. Pasteurized milk is the safest form of milk. Pasteurization reduces the bacterial load in the milk, kills pathogenic bacteria (like e-coli), and stops foodborne illness in its tracks. While only 1% of the U.S. population consumes raw milk and dairy, the CDC noted that 56% of foodborne illness came from the consumption of unpasteurized products. There are many outbreaks of illness due to raw milk. Unpasteurized milk can quickly become a large public health risk.

 3.  Raw vs pasteurized milk outbreaks
Left: the 1%, only 1% of the population drinks raw milk in the U.S. (1997) Right: Even though the least consumed, Raw milk leads milk borne outbreaks reported to the CDC in the U.S. (1973-2005).
Both sides of the debate have valid concerns, and we should be exploring all aspects of this debate. Natural, raw milk may indeed be superior in its nutrition, with no denatured or deactivated enzymes. At the same time though, pasteurization is effective in increasing the safety of milk, and has really benefited society as a means to prevent illness. It’s a question of unaltered versus safe.
The challenge is producing and distributing raw milk safely. Bacteria multiply very fast, and raw milk will spoil faster than pasteurized milk. This presents a logistical challenge in delivering raw milk safely to consumers. It generally takes about 24 hours for milk to get from the store to your refrigerator, and when you buy milk, you usually prefer to have a few days to drink it. This is a challenge without pasteurization because with every passing day the bacterial load increases. Raw milk has a very low shelf-life. Your risk increases exponentially with each passing day. Pasteurization reduces this risk, extends the life of milk, makes it possible to distribute, and really does fits well into our society of convenience.