…A more relaxed approach to raw, unpasteurized, milk is another topic that has provoked a great deal of noise from critics of the current DHHS regime. To read some of them, it would seem that any easing of the requirements for the pasteurization of milk entering the US food system would lead to mass infection and death. We have not noticed this in the UK or Europe. While the European Commission attempted to mandate pasteurization in the early 1990s, the scale of opposition was so great that they backed down and left the matter to member states. Most permit the sale of raw milk under regulated conditions and with appropriate health warnings for pregnant women and people who are immunosuppressed or otherwise particularly vulnerable to infection..
…As I have stressed in these commentaries, different countries are entitled to take different positions on the balance between state intervention and individual responsibility. It is hard to see epidemics of salmonella or listeria sweeping across the US if a relaxation of regulations on pasteurization were accompanied by high standards of production hygiene and appropriate consumer warnings. This would be an alternative direction for regulation to adopt that would be consistent with other developed countries. Americans might also be intrigued to discover just what their cheesemakers could offer them in terms of taste and texture!…
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