Public‑health officials tell House Ag panel expanding raw‑milk access risks more outbreaks

Public‑health experts on the House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee’s panel warned lawmakers that expanding access to unpasteurized (raw) milk would raise the risk of illness and strain local public‑health resources.

“All animal milk is widely pasteurized for a very good reason,” said Dylan Garrison, environmental health manager at Arapahoe County Public Health, during the March committee hearing. He said pasteurization “effectively destroys a wide range of harmful organisms that might otherwise make people very sick and potentially lead to death,” and cautioned that avian influenza can persist in raw milk for days.

The warning was reinforced by Boulder County’s food‑safety team lead, Zach Lustgarten, who reviewed a 2010 outbreak linked to a herd‑share program. Investigators interviewed nearly 50 participants and ultimately identified 30 confirmed cases of gastrointestinal illness, including Campylobacter and E. coli, he said. Two young children required intensive care and dialysis; health‑care costs for patients were estimated at about $315,000 at the time and the joint investigation costs were reported as $22,000 (Boulder County) and $17,000 (state), for a then‑total of roughly $352,000 — about $523,000 after adjusting for inflation, Lustgarten said.

“Drinking raw milk is inherently more dangerous than drinking pasteurized milk, and expanding access to raw milk only increases the likelihood of related outbreaks,” Garrison testified, noting local public‑health departments are already constrained by budget cuts and the staff time required for outbreak response.

Dr. Bob Belknap, chair of the Public Health Institute at Denver Health and chief medical officer for multiple counties, said pathogens associated with raw milk (including Listeria, Campylobacter and E. coli) can contaminate milk during ordinary farm operations and are not reliably eliminated by on‑farm testing. “Testing only samples a small fraction of the milk produced, and results often take days, so they return too late for many people who have already been exposed,” he said. He added there are no proven nutritional advantages to raw milk over pasteurized milk.

Industry and dairy‑sector representatives told the committee Colorado already allows access to raw milk through registered herd‑share or cow‑share programs established in 2005. Brock Herzberg, who represents Colorado Dairy Farmers, said that program requires registration and is designed to distinguish unpasteurized products from retail pasteurized milk.

“We intentionally … said we don’t think it should be branched out any further than the cow‑share program,” Herzberg said, describing the 2005 compromise that created a regulated herd‑share pathway.

The committee did not take action on raw‑milk policy during the hearing; presenters urged lawmakers to weigh consumer choice alongside protection for vulnerable populations and the capacity of local public‑health agencies.

The House committee moved on to other business after the panel concluded.