The Fresno-based reporter for National Public Radio's California Report, Sasha Khokha, put together a story for yesterday's program on raw milk. The piece featured an interview with Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy, 25 miles west of Fresno.
McAfee is opposed to a new law that went into effect in January requiring raw milk producers to ensure their product meets the same coliform standards as pasteurized milk. He likened the rule to requiring yogurt without bacteria.
Michael Payne, the dairy program coordinator of the UC Davis Western Center for Food Safety and Security, disagrees. And so far court decisions have affirmed his point of view.
"With live yogurt culture, we’re taking very clean milk to start with. We’re adding billions of a single strain of bacteria which we know to be healthful," Payne said in the clip.
He said there aren't any bacteria inside a healthy cow's udder, so the bacteria in raw milk comes from equipment, dirt and manure.
“Would you have your child go ahead and suckle on a cow teat that has just been rolling around inside a pasture?" he asked. "Common sense says no.”