October 12, 2026
Mark Harper/USA TODAY NETWORK via Rueters Connect
The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for the ban of raw milk sales because consuming raw milk can cause serious foodborne illnesses.
The Phillies' Bryce Harper drinking raw milk in the clubhouse. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking raw milk shots in the White House. The wildly popular Ballerina Farm instagram account and other social media influencers touting the benefits of raw milk.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has come out strongly against all of this.
Last week, it called for banning the sale of raw milk and milk products, including cheeses, emphasizing that consuming unpasteurized dairy products can lead to serious health risks. The AAP also urged pediatricians to lobby state representatives to ban raw milk sales and to protest efforts to legalize its sale in states where it is currently illegal.
"This recommendation is based on the multiplicity of data regarding the burden of illness associated with consumption of unpasteurized milk and milk products, especially among pregnant people, fetuses and neonates, and infants and young children, as well as the strong scientific evidence that pasteurization does not alter the nutritional value of milk," the AAP said.
Pasteurization is a process that involves heating raw milk to a high enough temperature for a period long enough to kill germs, including E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella.
Children under 5, adults over 65 and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of consuming unpasteurized dairy products. Doing so can lead to diarrhea, stomach cramping and vomiting – as well, in rare cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome or hemolytic uremic syndrome. These syndromes can cause paralysis, kidney failure, stroke and death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Raw milk sales in the United States rose 17.6% in 2024, per the market research firm Circana, with Axios reporting that is has become a "rallying point" among wellness influencers and right-wing media outlets. Kennedy had been a proponent, but has stopped promoting it as the Trump administration instead pushes whole milk.
Advocates of raw milk have touted it as a solution to various health issues, from inflammation to lactose intolerance. But the FDA, CDC and other health experts recommend people instead drink pasteurized milk, because raw milk can contain bacteria that causes diseases.
"I'm concerned about people consuming raw milk because while it isn't a guarantee that you will get sick from it, there is a relatively high likelihood that you can get a pathogen, a bacteria that will make you sick," Petra Levin, a biology professor at Washington University, told the Guardian.
ProPublica recently reported that a 17-month-old girl nearly died from E. coli linked to drinking unpasteurized milk.
Research shows that raw milk consumption was linked to 75 outbreaks of foodborne illness in the United States between 2013 and 2018. Nearly 700 people became sick, 98 people were hospitalized and two people died. About half of the people who became sick were under 20 years old, according to News Medical.
The Food and Drug Administration reports that there have been 143 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to consumption of unpasteurized dairy products since 1987. Miscarriages, still births, kidney failure and deaths resulted.
Since 1987, the FDA has prohibited the sale of raw milk products between states, although it is still legal to sell and buy raw milk in some form in 30 states. Licensed and inspected dairy farms in Pennsylvania can sell raw milk. Its sale is illegal in New Jersey.
