Straight from the cow's udder...

[Russ]

Guys I'm not getting in to how this subject came up (as I'd have to do a LOT of explaining....) in the pub this afternoon but is it safe to drink milk which has just been squeezed from a cow?

[Minbu]

I believe it's not recommended.

[Paul]

How well do you know the cow? On the serious side it's not as though pasteurisation etc has been around since the invention of the cow is it?

[Acathla]

surely its not sterile?

EDIT: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3089282&page=1

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Acathla

surely its not sterile?

EDIT: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3089282&page=1

I'm sure Russ would give em a wipe before hand

[ikthius]

does pasturisation not just make the milk last longer?

it is safe for lots of people around the third world countries, but maybe our guts are not used to it, maybe it wont do anything to us. as far as I know it is safe, our ancestors drank it that way

ik

[Russ]

Cheers guys, keep it coming.

[Delta Whiskey]

They used to sell green top milk which was unpasturised, but I think it was withdrawn for safety reasons (salmonella). I think milk straight from the cow contains certain elements that would cause 'unfortunate' side effects until you became used to it.

[greencreeper]

I think it would depend on your immune system. I do recall something from childhood where it was suggested that you needed to build up some sort of tolerance to fresh milk

[Halcyon]

Pasteurization (or pasteurisation) is the process of heating liquids for the purpose of destroying viruses and harmful organisms such as bacteria, protozoa, molds, and yeasts. The process was named after its inventor, french scientist Louis Pasteur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization


You will probably be fine, but boiling it would have helped... in order to kill any harmful bacteria.

[Mr_love_monkey]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization


..but boiling it would have helped...

What? The Cow?

[r1ch]

According to this drinking unpasteurized milk is like 'playing Russian roulette with your health'.... not sure that it's quite that bad though - I know plenty of farmers kids who grew up drinking it.

[Matt D]

This talk of cow milking has reminded me of that scene in Kingpin, lol....

[multiskilled]

Pasteurisation kills off the nasties. I believe some people do drink milk straight from the cow but it as illegal for dairy farmers to sell it to Joe public(see carry on camping).

[Shaun]

When did the law change? I drank green top milk up until I was 10!