Since last Wednesday, July 18, the Generalitat approved the sale of raw milk, the controversy does not stop. Detractors and defenders of this food take the floor on social networks to argue their reasons for and against.
We were already talking about the health risks of drinking raw unpasteurized milk and we warned of the prevailing need for boil the milk if you decide to take it untreated, directly from livestock. But we also want to clarify that boiling it is not enough to ensure milk safety. The safest thing is to buy it already pasteurized.
In fact, a 2015 report issued by the Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) determines that:
"Raw milk could contain pathogenic microorganisms and the risk could be reduced, but not eliminated, through extreme hygiene practices. Pasteurization is the only effective method that guarantees the elimination and control of pathogenic microorganisms."
According to a specific study on milk from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Government:
"Raw milk may contain harmful microbes that can make us seriously ill or cause death. Among them, Campylobacter Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella. If these bacteria enter the body," they can involve many days of diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting. . And, less frequently, kidney failure, paralysis, chronic disorders and even death. "
Hygiene, cold chain and boil well
The experts of the Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Biological Risks (BIOHAZ) conclude in a report that raw milk is a source of bacteria. These can be controlled, although never completely, yes:
Adequate practices of farm hygiene, something that the consumer cannot control, but the farmer must guarantee.
Cold chain is maintained (about 3º C) during production, transport, storage and sale. The cold delays food degradation. If the cold chain is well controlled and the shelf life is limited to a few days, the risk decreases considerably, EFSA experts say. You have to transport it home from the point of sale in isothermal containers and keep it at the bottom of the refrigerator at 3º C. There the temperature is more constant than on the side of the door, which we are constantly opening and closing.
The milk is boiled before consuming. The danger is minimized, although it is not completely eliminated. It must be boiled for 17 seconds, at 79-80º. It must even be boiled several times to make its disappearance more effective. And once boiled, it must be consumed within 48 hours.
Most likely, pasteurization
The pharmacist and food technology specialist Gemma del Caño explains in a Twitter thread how to boil the milk, because as she writes: “IT'S NOT TO BOIL AND NOW. You must consider more things”.
When you get home, immediately you have to boil, of course, you put it on a high heat and that soon after it starts to rise, so you have to lower the fire. The cream above is removed. Repeat. That is why you have to repeat 3 times, because with one there is not enough time ...
- Gemma del Caño (@farmagemma) July 20, 2018
As soon as it boils you have to lower the heat so that it does not come out, we do not know how long all the milk has been and at what temperature. You may think: I have it on fire for two hours. Well no, the heat is loaded all the good that milk has.
- Gemma del Caño (@farmagemma) July 20, 2018
Because as much as you do, a failure can occur at some point in the process. Bacteria are smarter than us, that's why they have been here for so many years and know how to take advantage of the moment to hit us on their noses.
- Gemma del Caño (@farmagemma) July 20, 2018
In Babies and More World Milk Day 2018: the importance of consuming milk during pregnancy and childhood, are growth milks necessary for children?
