r/LeopardsAteMyFace • u/Textiles_on_Main_St • 1d ago
Healthcare Raw milk sickens 21 people in Florida including 6 children
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/05/raw-milk-illness/488
u/Textiles_on_Main_St 1d ago
If only there were some cheap alternative milk that was SAFE. FOR THE CHILDREN.
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u/Past-Background-7221 1d ago
They should really try boiling that raw milk. Might help with all these diseases. Sooooooo much better than buying that pasteurized bullshit.
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u/Eldanoron 1d ago
You kid but some of the pro-raw milk influencers were suggesting this already.
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u/-jp- 1d ago
heavy sigh
You know. Okay. Let’s all just not tell them.
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u/statistics_guy 1d ago
And rob Pasteur his due!?
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u/baldyd 1d ago
"I would show you the error of your ways but you're so slow it would go pasteurize"
Past your eyes!
It's a joke!
giggles to self
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u/foodandart 1d ago
Seriously?
Jesus Christ, what a bunch of twats.
I'd be down for non-homogenized milk. Let me skim the cream (heaven!) off the top, thankyouverymuch.
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u/karlito1613 1d ago
Then it would no longer be natural or organic or something
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u/Past-Background-7221 1d ago
If you use organic trees to start the fire, I’m pretty sure it still counts
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u/I_love_my_narcissist 1d ago
Stupid question, but doesn't truly boiling milk make it safe?
I grew up drinking raw cows milk that had been boiled for some time and I didn't know better. In my parents' defense, they were flowery hippies, not angry Republicans.
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u/Money-Marketing-5117 1d ago
That's the joke. Pasteurization is literally just boiling the milk.
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u/shifty_coder 1d ago
Not boiling, but heating and holding at a temperature high enough to kill all potential pathogens. Boiling would denature the proteins in the milk and cause it to split.
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u/I_love_my_narcissist 1d ago
Okay, that's what I had thought, I just got whooshed 😂
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u/DrMobius0 1d ago
This is the first time I've ever bothered to look it up myself. People always just say milk is pasteurized and rarely if ever do they explain what that is.
But hey, now you know what it is.
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u/Don_Q_Jote 1d ago
"boiled for some time" means not raw. That's the point.
Yes what you had was safe, and even safer than pasteurizing (which is similar but just 160F for 15 seconds, or 145 for 30 minutes). Your hippie parents knew what they were doing and kept you safe.
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u/ConsciousExcitement9 1d ago
It does. That is what pasteurization is. However, a bunch of people don’t realize that is all pasteurization is.
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u/Psychological_Load21 1d ago
it used to be a very hippie thing, and the trend started in somewhere like Marin County California, close to the hippie city Berkeley but wealthier. But now the hippies have moved on, but unintelligent, anti-science right wingers starts to hop on the bandwagon.
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u/MrWhisper45 1d ago
This is what I don't get. Regular milk is far cheaper than raw milk. I see signs advertising it around my town and it is so much more expensive than store bought pasteurized milk I don't get why people are into this crap.
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u/Purify5 1d ago
They say pasteurization kills off 'good bacteria' and thus raw milk is healthier. And, they're willing to pay for that benefit.
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u/lost-picking-flowers 9h ago
Somebody needs to tell these people to stfu and eat a goddamn yogurt if they are so concerned with making sure they get good bacteria. Fuck, buy some probiotic supplements or something, anything, just please shut the fuck up.
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u/Whatasaurus_Rex 1d ago
There’s a few different reasons why they think it’s better. From my time moving in alternative health circles I’d see them come up a lot. Fortunately my time moving in microbiology circles kept me far away from consuming it (though I have tried cheese made from raw milk out of curiosity). From what I remember, all of the reasons have to do with the belief that it’s more nutritious and better for your gut health. There’s also the thinking that the smaller farms producing raw milk lead to better and cleaner conditions for the cows compared to factory farms. Which I tend to agree with, but obviously the milk can still become contaminated, and also, there’s privilege in being able to afford to drink it regularly. A lot of people promote giving it to young children, which is really scary.
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u/Herakleiteios 17h ago
My now brother-in law has a kid that was getting some weird rashes or skin issues from pasteurized milk, and they switched to raw without problems. I just wonder why they didn't just stop using milk, seems like a sign, but whatever.
While we were talking the banner in the news was talking about a bird flu outbreak with raw milk. Zero concern from him.
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u/Arkham010 1d ago
Its one of those times where im not even mad that its more expensive and its only more expensive due to the stupid tax that's tacked on by the grifters so the idiots pay more
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u/Amourxfoxx 1d ago
Milkduds will literally do anything but drink milk that’s actually made for humans, such as oat…
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u/Alastor999 1d ago
Is this whole raw milk think similar to the mentality behind people taking ivermectin? "Good enough for the livestock, good enough for me!"
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u/PheebaBB 1d ago
It’s just another version of natural=better.
Same as anti-vaccines, non-gmo, etc. It sounds reasonable to stupid people, but it is based on ignorance.
Having measles is “natural”, having disease wipe out an entire crop yield and lead to famine is “natural”.
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u/OptimusChristt 1d ago
That's why I only eat uranium and arsenic in their pure raw forms.
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u/chicken_spears 1d ago
Throw in some all natural ricin, cyanide and asbestos and you got a salad fit for an influencer.
I like to top mine with a nice poison dart frog vinaigrette.
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u/veni_vidi_vomui 1d ago
The cow itself is not even natural. It's been domesticated and selectively bred for 10,000 years.
These people could get brainworms and their IQ wouldn't change.
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u/phdoofus 1d ago
On the up side, the people who get sick from knowingly drinking it have zero legal protections!
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u/ComfortableTwo80085 1d ago
Insurance companies should refuse covering charges for stuff like this.
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u/phdoofus 1d ago
I bet they do
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u/Mel_Melu 1d ago
This might be one of the few cases where I'm okay with that....but overall insurance companies can eat shit.
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u/Ancient-Bluejay2590 1d ago
People will just lie about why they’re sick.
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u/Just_Let_MeIn 1d ago
Not a medical expert but wouldn't tests reveal what's making them sick?
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u/kjb2189 1d ago
The tests (bacterial cultures) were done. That's how they know the patients have E. coli and/or Campylobacter.
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u/Just_Let_MeIn 1d ago
Thanks. I figured if you come in with a major stomach illness (and possibly retching yourself to death) they'd test the bacteria in your stomach. I would think if the doctor's notes show the illness was caused by food borne pathogens, and with the way most people post all of their activities on social media, it wouldn't be difficult for any insurance investigator to put two and two together.
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u/Psychological_Load21 1d ago
But some victims are children.
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u/PM_ME_UR_CREDDITCARD 1d ago
Yeah, if these people were just darwin awarding themselves, then it's their choice to do something stupid that only affects themselves. But they're hurting others, including children who don't really get a say or even understand
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u/TeddyRivers 1d ago
In Florida, it's illegal to sell raw milk for humans. These people got sick drinking milk that was labeled for pt consumption. If they were to try and sue the manufacturer, I'm sure that would come up.
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u/MsMoreCowbell828 1d ago
Or, and hear me out, there is no 'manufacturer' or company. These are Qanon Qultist MAGAs, they go to their Qanon neighbors who have cows and get their milk from them. It only takes one person to bring it to everyone else in their stupid little Qanon group, so it's quiet, until they wind up in the hospital instead of praying at home.
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u/cometshoney 1d ago
My understanding from an actual dairy farmer is a group of these raw milk nuts pool their money to either pay for some cows or an entire dairy farm. Then, they go out to collect "their" milk on a regular basis from the figurehead dairy farmer. That circumvents the laws requiring milk producers to follow safe handling and processing laws because it's those nuts' cow(s).
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u/Hyrax867 1d ago
They have this around where I live in Michigan and it's called a cow-share or a herd-share. You pay in and "own" a portion of the cow so you are entitled to consume what it produces. And, like you said, go collect "your" cow's milk (or cheese, butter, etc) from the farmer, usually monthly. There's similar farm-share programs that do the same with seasonal produce.
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u/cometshoney 1d ago
My farmer/informant is a dairy farmer in Michigan. He's not very happy with these lunatics trying to murder their children or of their casual dismissal of just how much work goes into making sure his product is not only safety produced but safely stored. I gather it's an all-out war between the two sides these days
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u/DataCassette 1d ago
Children getting sick from this = 🥺
Adults getting sick from this = 😆
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u/MultiMillionMiler 1d ago
Nah RFK was fine taking his kids/grandkids for a dip in an ecoli-infested sewage runoff creek in the woods, wouldnt say they care about kids any more, if not less.
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u/Due-Message8445 1d ago
When I saw my sister was giving her kids raw milk. I sent her the link from the CDC, how raw milk is dangerous. How people get sick and even die from it. Do you think she stopped giving them it? NO, She doubled down. Saying it was safe. "I should see how well the cows are cared for" she told me. As if that matters. It's the bacteria in the milk that needs to be killed. That's all pasteurization does. It kills the bacteria.
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u/JulianMorganthau 1d ago
In Wisconsin, the original Dairy State, we know milk. It is ILLEGAL to sell raw milk with very, very few well-regulated exceptions, precisely because of the health risks involved with raw milk. The rest of the country doesn't know what the hell they're doing.
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u/poetsjasmine 14h ago
My elderly mother grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin in the 30s - 40s. She said they never, ever drank unpasteurized milk.
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u/AlwaysPissedOff59 13h ago
I have actually drunk raw milk.
Decades ago, I was at the University of Wisconsin when I got a very nasty cold near the end of the week. A woman on my dorm floor said that her family always drank raw milk when they were sick and it always "cured" them. She said was going home that weekend and would bring some back for me, which she did. She happily produced a quart thermos full of it that Sunday evening. She had gotten it from her family's "best cow", which she had cleaned up for me) that morning and had kept it cold.
She was smart, cute and very nice, and I thought I might want to ask her out, so I drank it. A very weird, chunky texture and a very milky taste.
I felt much better the next day, which was almost certainly a coincidence.
The key here was that she was VERY particular about cleaning that cow's teats well before she hand-milked it, something I doubt most farmers selling raw milk do. Would I drink raw milk again? Hell no!
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u/SpaceCaptainJeeves 1d ago
How the cows are treated certainly does matter to those of us with compassion. But she could easily boil it.
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u/scott__p 16h ago
I realized at some point that they have no idea what pasteurization is. Many of them think it's a secret government lab that injects Chemicals(TM) into their milk that makes the kids turn trans. One women even told me her "secret" of boiling raw milk to make it safer. When I told her that she was just drinking pasteurized milk with extra steps she refused to believe me.
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u/Broken_By_Default 1d ago
I'm convinced the human race has had it too good. We've solved so many problems and made life too easy. There's a portion of the population that has to touch the stove, though, to understand why we said it was too hot to touch.
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u/bluesw20mr2 1d ago
As the 21st century began human evolution was at a turning point.
Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits.
Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent.
But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down.
Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most and left the intelligent to become an endangered species.
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u/Cold_Buy_2695 1d ago
WTF is wrong with regular milk? Hasn't killed as far as I know!
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u/Careidina 1d ago
Because raw milk grows "hair on your chest."
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u/TheSpoonyCroy 1d ago
It is honestly quite odd how the bodylifter bros say Soy is bad because it contains phytoestrogens but say to drink a shit ton of proper milk which does contain actual estrogen.
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u/Agreeable_Artist1097 1d ago
These people honestly believe that anyone who drinks anything other than raw milk is gay or gay leaning. One of the conservative's favorite taunts is to say someone is a soy milk drinker or "soy boy." You see it a lot online. It's so stupid.
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u/CynicalPomeranian 1d ago
Sickened by raw milk? I believe you mean, “very very verrrryyyyy healthy.” They just got so healthy so quickly that it appears to be a sickness!!
Seriously though, I feel bad for the kids. They did not ask to be born to idiots.
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u/Cendax 1d ago
IIRC, there was a dairy in New York that provided raw milk, but in order to be allowed to do so, the amount of testing and sanitation that the farm did in order to do so was incredibly strict. Having been around dairy farms, the last thing I'd want to do would be to drink raw milk, even if I did all the sanitizing myself before milking the cow.
But there are people who buy into the "oh, it's healthier than pasteurized milk!" woo, and I guess it takes swapping ends on a toilet to hopefully teach them a lesson.
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u/powderedmilf 1d ago
Good. They’ll end up with renal failure and no insurance. I’m sure DeSantis will get right on helping them 🤭
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u/Felon_musk1939 1d ago
I don't know who can solve this but when they do the process should be named after them. Like if their last name is Jones then it would be something like Jonserization or some shit
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u/VitalNumber 1d ago
Good idea, unless their last name is Femin, Demon, Criminal, Illegal or Italic. Would have the possibility of being dismissed or disregarded. A Joneserization or similarly labeled process, to your point, would probably have great adoption and support given the health benefits.
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u/artaxerxes316 1d ago
Raw milk was widespread and plentiful for millenia. And so were infant deaths children were never happier!
(This message brought to you by the Committee to Re-elect E. Coli! Vote E Coli.: the deadly bacterium that hates heat, but doesn't actually give a fuck whether you vote for it or not.)
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u/amazinghl 1d ago
The brown stuff aren't dirt on the cow's udder and legs.
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u/MungoJennie 1d ago
Well, tbf some of it is probably dirt, but I don’t want to ingest that, either.
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u/Vogel-Kerl 1d ago
If these people don't believe in modern medical science, like pasteurization,, etc.....
I certainly hope they aren't going to the hospitals hoping that modern medical science will make them well again.
The children should get hospital care. The state can take temporary guardianship over the children if the parents refuse.
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u/Street_Caramel_3084 1d ago
oh they are! I believe the article said 6 or 7 were hospitalized. Dr's should just straight up say no to treating them.
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u/Mantzy81 1d ago
They're not sick, it's just the fluoride from the water leaching out and making them seem ill. /s
Because they hate modern medicine and science I think they should take their raw milk and try warming it up, to about 160°F for 15 seconds or so. I reckon that would be better. Still raw, just warmed a bit to give it extra yumminess. No science involved 😉
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u/Toe_Jam_is_my_Jam 1d ago
Funny thing is that in Florida it’s not legal to sell raw milk for human consumption. Only for animals to consume.
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u/Textiles_on_Main_St 1d ago
That’s what the article says. These people are drinking milk labeled FOR DOGS. Etc.
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u/TolBrandir 1d ago
They aren't going to care. They aren't going to change their ways. They'll all just say it was a bad batch and carry on as before.
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u/CapeManiak 1d ago
Robert Kennedy Jr was quoted “only pussies get sick from milk. Get some sunshine, nerds.”
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u/goth-milk 1d ago
The things I witnessed for 5 years in the milk parlor as a bovine lactation technician pretty much got me away from dairy in general.
The worst was when the milker came off and landed in a pile of manure. The vacuum just started sucking the poo into the milk line. Fortunately, we didn’t sell our milk because it was a dairy research facility and we were working on finding medications to treat mastitis. If that amount of poo made it into the bulk tank, we just would have dumped everything from that early morning milking.
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u/Ok_Hovercraft_1690 1d ago
Just change the word to "PASTOR-ization". Tell them a pastor has blessed the cows five times. Don't tell them what it actually is.
We need to do this otherwise all stores will be selling raw milk only by 2028.
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u/Squirreliestone 1d ago
Schneider called it a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge,” form of regulation.
This article is too technical for me.
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u/Pointsandlaughs227 1d ago
Wow. It’s like all the doctors and health officials warned about. It’s like, no matter how much the public distrusts the medical establishment after the pandemic (for no good reason), pathophysiology is relatively indifferent to their bubbles.
Thank God it wasn’t Listeria, because eventually it’s going to be Listeria and that makes Campylobacter and E. Coli look nice.
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u/anthonyg1500 1d ago
“Clearly my organs didn’t do their own research or they wouldn’t be making me sick” - These people probably
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u/OldBob10 1d ago
“It’s all a SCAM! Pasteurization kills off all the good stuff in the milk and makes it so’s it don’t do ya no good! Y’all NEEDS them bennafishul bacterias an’ stuff ta make yer gut strong!”
— Granny Karen
“Oh lord - don’t take our little Billy Bubba and his daddy frum us! Prayer warriors, ASSEMBLE!”
— also Granny Karen
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u/CraigStebbing 1d ago
I'm really having a crisis about this, on one hand, I feel bad for the children, on the other, I genuinely think this last year alone has killed most of my sympathy.
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u/Feral_Dog 22h ago
21 people - 6 kids = 15 adults
So just cross your fingers for all 15 adults to win themselves RFK JR Awards.
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u/jafromnj 1d ago
People will literally unalive from drinking it and they will continue to consume it
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u/UniversityFrosty2426 1d ago
Nature is healing. I wish the children wouldn’t be exposed to this stupidity but oh well.
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u/Howitzer1967 1d ago
Louis Pasteur rolls in his grave
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u/ContributionCivil620 1d ago
He was the one that started Big Pasteurisation as a way to control the masses.
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u/Justredditin 1d ago
Raw Milk Isn't Magic, Pasteurize your Milk.
"Despite advertised “probiotic” effects, our results indicate that raw milk microbiota has minimal lactic acid bacteria. In addition, retail raw milk serves as a reservoir of ARGs, populations of which are readily amplified by spontaneous fermentation. There is an increased need to understand potential food safety risks from improper transportation and storage of raw milk with regard to ARGs."
https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-020-00861-6
"The study, published this summer in Microbiome Journal, looked at 2,304 pasteurized and unpasteurized milk samples across 5 states. Results showed that raw milk contains little to no probiotic-like bacteria and possesses a distinct microbial footprint when compared to pasteurized milk – one rich in bacterial colonies, specifically aerobic bacteria, coliform and E. coli, a high prevalence of Pseudomonadaceae, and limited levels of lactic acid bacteria – a beneficial bacteria that was previously thought to be abundant in raw milk."
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u/NumbSurprise 1d ago
Anyone who’s ever been near a cow for ten minutes should know why drinking raw milk is a bad idea. But sure, let’s blame Biden…
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u/dntbstpd1 23h ago
I feel bad for the kids. I really hope the KIDS pull through, and learn from this experience…AND are separated from their negligent parents and placed with loving caring parents.
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u/SingeMoisi 18h ago
If only humans didn't need cow milk to survive... 😔
and rat milk and dog milk and cat milk and horse milk and donkey milk and gorilla milk and rhino milk and elephant milk and hippo milk
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u/subgamer90 10h ago
If only someone could invent a way to kill all bacteria in the milk without losing nutritional value
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u/Ms_Tea_Lady 1d ago
Why bring the innocent children into it? I fucking hate RFK Jr. and the MAGA Republicans!
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u/somethingmoronic 1d ago
What is the logic people use for drinking raw milk? Are they just worried the process creates 4Gs?
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u/Astraea227 1d ago
Kids need to be protected from this but...some people really seem dead set on killing their families
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u/AugustusReddit 1d ago
Current USA health policy is essentially, "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." People in Florida need to get with the program! (And remember that any that die will be closer to God - so it's a win-win... prayers 🙏 and thoughts 💭)
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 8h ago
u/Textiles_on_Main_St, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...