First off, Even minimally aged Cheese, by nature of the beast, is Preserved Milk. So there is no need for refrigeration. We are talking firm and bacteria, mold or salt washed soft rind cheeses, not fresh cheese like Mozzarella, Farmer's or Cream Cheese.
On Raw Milk...Since the 8th century BC man discovered that if you pull them things on the bottom of a Cow, Goat, Etc., you get a tasty and nutritious food and man began drinking Raw Milk. It is only the last 200 years that large scale dairy operations began providing milk for the ever increasing city populations. That combination of lack of understanding of bacteria and it's hazards to humans and the lack of sanitation as GREED caused the ever increasing concentration of cattle in feed lots, sheltered buildings and milking parlors that allowed hundreds of cows to be milked in often filthy conditions, with cross-contamination by fecal bacteria, that milk became hazardous, even deadly to drink. More efficient cooling helped and finally in the early 1900's Pasteurization was introduced to the dairy industry in the United States, making large production milk safe to drink but at a price. Cook anything and there are changes that take place. vitamins are lost, beneficial enzymes are destroyed and flavors are changed. Proponents of raw milk health benefits are, just as the Raw Food and Paleo folks, swearing their diets restore health and well being. Fact??? Who knows as there is so much conflicting and biased data. The Raw Milk movement is gathering demand and just as in the 19th century, greed is driving dairy operation to produce ever increasing quantities. As production goes up, Costs go up and corners are cut. This often results in Sanitation suffering and now an otherwise safe product, raw milk from healthy animals contains benign spoilage bacteria and must be cooled to keep it from souring, now becomes contaminated with hazardous pathogens and again people get sick with the related recalls, fines and dairy shutdowns. In thousands of homesteads, small farms and even small higher production dairy operations where sanitation is a priority with the cows utters and milking equipment thoroughly cleaned and sanitized with antibacterial agents, raw milk poses no threat to human health. Considering many generations, up to many of our parents and even some of us, grew up drinking raw milk that Mom or Dad drew from the family cow twice a day, and WE are here to discuss the pros and cons, shows that Raw Milk can be perfectly safe...JJ
