Backers of raw milk are pushing to make the potentially dangerous product more widely available and easier to obtain, even as a new outbreak — one of at least five in the past year — sickens U.S. children.More than three dozen bills supporting raw milk have been introduced in statehouses across the nation, The Associated Press found. A growing number of states are making it legal to sell. Dairy farmers say they can barely keep it in stock, even though prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon.Top government officials and internet influencers are helping drive this momentum. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downed shots of raw milk at the White House last May and previously promised to halt “aggressive suppression” of the product. On social media, posts about raw milk have surged in recent months, often touting unproven claims about its health benefits.AdvertisementAdvertisementAll of this alarms public health officials, who have long warned that unpasteurized milk can harbor risky germs. The current outbreak — tied to raw milk cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm — has sickened nine people with E. coli, half of them children younger than 5. One victim developed a serious complication that can impair kidney function for life.Petra Anne Levin, a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said she doesn’t understand the products’ appeal.“If you wouldn’t lick a cow’s underneath, why would you drink raw milk?” she said. “There’s a reason pasteurization is around.”Pasteurization kills germs by heating the milk, commonly to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (71.7 degrees Celsius) for at least 15 seconds. Experts say it has no significant impact on milk’s nutritional quality and has saved millions of people from foodborne illness.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut some consumers would rather drink their milk raw despite the risk. Recognizing this trend, advocates and critics alike are increasingly calling for federal regulation of the product.“People want access,” said Mary McGonigle-Martin, co-chair of Stop Foodborne Illness, a consumer advocacy group. “Public health has lost the battle on raw milk.”Raw milk legislation pops up across the nationBills favoring raw milk have been introduced in the current legislative session in 18 states, including those controlled by Democrats and Republicans.AP searched legislation in all 50 states using the bill-tracking software Plural and analyzed bills for whether they expand or streamline access to unpasteurized milk or products made from it. More than 40 bills introduced as of late April would make it easier to buy, sell or consume raw milk.AdvertisementAdvertisementSome would allow raw milk to be sold for human consumption for the first time. A bill in New Jersey’s Senate, for example, would create a raw milk permitting program.“You can buy cigarettes. You can buy alcohol. You can b …
