Federal and state officials say pasteurized milk available in grocery stores is safe from bird flu but caution that raw milk is not.

So how do you know what you’re drinking is safe?

The H5N1 bird flu virus was first identified in America’s milk supply earlier this year ‒ but the virus researchers found was dead, killed by the rapid heating of pasteurization.

That’s when officials began warning people to avoid raw milk, which is touted by some as “healthier.”

On Friday, officials decided to step up testing of milk on farms, both to keep the public from swallowing the virus and to more quickly identify its spread among farms.

There is no doubt that some unpasteurized milk contains H5N1 virus. Last week, California public health officials announced a voluntary recall by Raw Farm LLC after detecting the virus in raw milk and cream at company bottling and storage sites.

Although no one has yet caught bird flu from their morning cereal or latte, there is strong evidence that the virus can be transmitted through raw milk.

Still, Raw Farm CEO and founder Mark McAfee questioned why California officials were asking him to pull his products from shelves, saying they were over-reacting since no one has yet gotten sick.

“That’s because this is just the latest convenient platform to attack legal raw milk in California!” he wrote in an email to USA TODAY. “Protect consumers from what???”

Here are some things to consider as you decide what milk to buy and drink:

What is raw milk?

Raw milk doesn’t go through pasteurization, a process developed more than a century ago to kill viruses, bacteria and other pathogens. Cheese made with raw milk can also contain pathogens that are harmful to people’s health, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Raw milk is legal for retail sale within California, which is the nation’s largest dairy producer and has had over 500 herds infected with bird flu. Several states ban the sale of raw milk entirely.

Since 1987, there’s been a federal ban of its sales across state lines.

Is raw milk good for you?

Raw milk supporters say it contains more enzymes, probiotics (or the “good bacteria”), proteins and vitamins than pasteurized milk. They also say it helps prevent chronic health issues such as asthma and allergies, as well as ear and respiratory infections and fever, citing studies of European children living on farms.

There’s little scientific evidence to support these claims, said John Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research and a food science professor.

“The short answer is no, there are no proven benefits,” he told USA TODAY.

“You are being conned with these claims,” he said. “This is snake oil.”

What raw milk does contain, he said, is a lot of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens that can make people sick.

Before pasteurization, people routinely were sickened and died from drinking raw milk, catching diseases like tuberculosis, and raw milk is still far more likely than pasteurized milk to contain bacteria like salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

“I don’t have any time for farmers who want to put other people at risk for products they make on their farm, knowingly,” said Lucey, who grew up on a dairy farm.

Who can get sick from raw milk?

Pathogens in raw milk can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting and fever. These may not be serious for some people, but they can lead to serious, even life-threatening illnesses for people with weakened immune systems, such as babies, young children, the elderly and pregnant, said Lucey, who has analyzed risks and benefits of raw milk consumption.

In 2023 and 2024, more than 100 people fell ill from salmonella linked to raw milk from Raw Farm, the same company now at the center of raw milk recalls for bird flu. At least seven people were hospitalized, and 40% of cases were in children. Findings only came to light from court records released in the summer, USA TODAY reported.

In a July 11 blog post, Raw Farm called the investigation the result of a “corrupt, biased agenda” including from the Food and Drug administration and the media. “This is just the most recent of a long history of dirty tricks,” the post said. “If you see concerning and questionable headlines, please be very clear we are in a war zone with a corrupt system that hates raw milk.”

Before that, the company’s products were linked to several outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter, according to the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research.

How can pathogens infect raw milk?

Bacteria and viruses that can make people sick are found throughout farms.

Bacteria like E. coli are present in poop or in the dirt, so cows can lie down and get contaminated material on their udders, said Dr. Meghan Davis, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Typically, the milking process has standards to wipe down udders and equipment before milking begins. But some bacteria can remain and contaminate the milk. Pasteurization kills these pathogens, but they can persist in raw milk.

Research has shown the highest traces of bird flu virus detected on the cow are around its mammary glands and in the milk itself, said Davis, a former dairy veterinarian.

Milk samples test positive for bird flu long before cows show symptoms, according to Dr. K. Fred Gingrich II, executive director of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, an organization representing veterinarians who treat cows.

When bird flu was first identified in cows in Texas earlier this year, barn cats were dying on infected dairy farms from drinking raw milk, Davis said. Research has also shown ferrets and mice also get severely ill or die from contaminated milk.

Human cases of bird flu have been mostly among dairy and poultry workers. In dairies, officials believe transmission to workers happens when they’re in close contact with infected animals. This includes when people are working near udders and raw milk, since that’s where virus traces are highest. They can then become infected if they touch contaminated equipment or milk splashes on them and they touch their face.

For now, infections have been relatively mild in dairy workers, including with eye redness. No one has spread it to another person, so far.

However, viruses are constantly mutating, so officials worry changes to bird flu can make it more transmissible or cause more severe illness.

In a study published last week, researchers showed that only one mutation in the H5N1 virus could make it easier for it to transmit among humans. Flu viruses, like H5N1, mutate constantly, so it is only a matter of time and luck before that mutation happens, officials have said.

What does pasteurization do?

Pasteurization is a century-old practice to kill pathogens using heat, time and pressure. Before pasteurized milk was commonplace, one-in-four foodborne illnesses was related to dairy, according to the FDA.

With bird flu, pasteurization destroys the virus. So while traces of the virus’ genetic material can still be found, the machinery of the virus is unable to replicate, rendering it harmless, Lucey said.

How can I get probiotics, ‘less processed’ products?

Just because raw milk has high levels of bacteria, it doesn’t mean those bacteria are beneficial or “probiotic,” Davis said. Probiotics must be non-pathogenic, whereas raw milk can contain bacteria that make people sick, the FDA said in its warning.

By comparison, pasteurized products like yogurt or kefir, do have probiotics from the fermentation process and have measurable health benefits, including strengthening the immune systems, Davis said.

In terms of taste, if people want a “less processed” milk experience, she recommends they purchase pasteurized whole milk or cream.

Trump administration on raw milk

Raw milk has been in the spotlight lately because of bird flu, but also because Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a strong proponent. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Kennedy to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees most of the government’s health-related agencies.

Kennedy’s support for raw milk has driven up demand, McAfee said in a Nov. 30 interview with USA TODAY, noting that the recall will limit already-strained supplies of Raw Farm products.

“Right now, the market is going crazy because of what’s going on with RFK, and then the food-as-medicine concept,” he said.

Kennedy, who lives in California, is a longtime Raw Farm customer, McAfee added.

McAfee said Kennedy’s transition team reached out to him about applying for a position as an adviser for FDA’s raw milk standards and policy.

In an email, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team said McAfee hasn’t had communication with anyone at the incoming HHS nor the Presidential Personnel Office, which is tasked with hiring political appointees.

As bird flu continues to sweep across U.S. dairies, Lucey, of the Center for Dairy Research, hopes people don’t take risks just because bird flu has only caused mild infection for now in the U.S. Previous H5N1 outbreaks elsewhere have killed as many as half the people infected.

“I’m hoping to God that it doesn’t harm anybody,” he said. “But I’m not burying my head in my sand.”

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