A two-year-old child contracted brucellosis after drinking freshly squeezed goat milk. Blindly pursuing "pure natural" will only harm others and yourself!

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In recent years, we often see the following scene on some streets and around some communities: someone is pulling a cow or a goat, selling freshly squeezed cow/goat milk... There are often long queues behind them, because everyone thinks that freshly squeezed milk is pure, natural and healthier.

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However, recently in Xi'an, Shaanxi, a 2-year-old child developed a fever for 4 days and a rash for 3 days after drinking freshly squeezed goat milk on the street. He was eventually diagnosed with brucellosis.

What is brucellosis? Why can't we drink raw milk? What is the pitfall of the "pure natural" that we like?

01Why does drinking freshly squeezed goat milk cause brucellosis?
Brucellosis is the abbreviation of brucellosis, which is an infectious disease caused by Brucella invading the human body [1].

Brucella bacteria usually live in animals such as cattle, sheep, dogs, and pigs. Therefore, sick sheep, cattle, and other animals are the main sources of infection for brucellosis. Humans can also be easily infected by these infected animals [2].

The reason why drinking raw goat milk can transmit brucellosis is because it does not sterilize.

"Raw milk" is also commonly called raw milk, which refers to raw milk that has not undergone sterilization or other processing.

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Since “raw milk” is rich in nutrients, there are a large number of bacteria in the environment that are eyeing it. For example, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas, fungi, and zoonotic pathogens such as Brucella and Mycobacterium tuberculosis originating from animals may contaminate our raw milk[3].

Therefore, if "raw milk" is not sufficiently sterilized and you drink it directly, it can easily cause the spread of zoonotic diseases, and brucellosis is a very common one.

If cattle or sheep are infected with Brucella and we drink their milk, we may get brucellosis[4].

Reports from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization indicate that the main route of infection for people with Brucella is still through unpasteurized dairy products and undercooked meat products[5-6].

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02How harmful is brucellosis?

Brucellosis infection exists in more than 160 areas among more than 200 countries and regions in the world, and 5 million people are infected with brucellosis every year.

The incubation period for brucellosis is generally five to sixty days, but may be as long as several months.

One of the difficulties in treating brucellosis is that it has no specific symptoms.

Brucellosis usually presents many symptoms similar to those of influenza. Once infected, people will have long-term fever, sweating, headache, back pain and other symptoms, which are very similar to the common cold; severe cases may also cause joint pain and hepatosplenomegaly. Therefore, it is often misdiagnosed as a cold, and misdiagnosis will delay the disease.

However, if people are not treated promptly after being infected with brucellosis, it is easy for the acute disease to turn into a chronic disease that is difficult to treat, leading to damage to multiple organ systems throughout the body, repeated attacks, and even possible delays for several years, lifelong incurable, and even disability. Pregnant women infected with brucellosis may also suffer from miscarriage and stillbirth.

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03 Freshly squeezed cow/goat milk is not more nutritious. You risk your life to drink freshly squeezed cow/goat milk simply because it is pure and natural. You think that raw milk has not been processed and has higher nutritional value.

However, after comparing raw milk and pasteurized milk, scientists found that the nutritional value of raw milk is not better, and there is no significant difference in nutrition and human health functions between the two compared with pasteurized milk[7].

Further reading: Room temperature milk VS fresh milk, which type of milk is better for children?

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04 Milk must be heated and sterilized before it can be safely drunk. In fact, freshly squeezed cow (sheep) milk cannot be drunk directly. It needs to be sterilized before it can be drunk.
The milk we sell on the market now needs to be sterilized. There are usually three ways to sterilize:
• Low-temperature pasteurization, where milk is heated to 63°C-65°C for 30 minutes;
• High temperature short time pasteurization, sterilization conditions are 72-76°C for 15 seconds (or 80-85°C for 10-15 seconds);
•Ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilization method, sterilization at 132°C for 2-4 seconds. Each manufacturer has slightly different control over temperature and time.
The first two methods are called pasteurization, and the milk produced is pasteurized milk, commonly known as "fresh milk". The third method is referred to as ultra-high temperature sterilization (UHT), often referred to as "room temperature milk".

In general, freshly squeezed “raw milk” has not undergone any sterilization treatment and poses a great food safety risk[8]. It is recommended that people do not drink it directly.

05 The word “pure and natural” may be poisonous. The reason why raw milk is popular is that the word “pure and natural” makes people feel that it is healthier.

But the words “pure natural” are actually “toxic”, and many foods are harming people under this guise.

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(1) Oil pressing

Many people bring a few pots with them when they go to the countryside.

In fact, the "Tu" in Tu oil pressing refers to the traditional manual oil refining method. However, the biggest problem with the traditional method is that the equipment and technology are backward, and it is usually impossible to have supporting crude oil refining equipment, and many impurities cannot be removed.

For example: water, mechanical impurities (dust), colloids (phospholipids, proteins, sugars), free fatty acids, pigments, hydrocarbons, metal compounds, and may also contain toxic heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury and residual pesticides [9-10].

Because these unrefined crude oils pose so many health risks, my country’s food safety standards stipulate that unrefined vegetable oils cannot be eaten directly and can only be used as raw materials for finished oil products[11].

Don’t be superstitious about homemade oil. Be sure to buy branded cooking oil from regular supermarkets or online stores.

Further reading: Oils rich in "carcinogenic toxins" should never be allowed to be consumed by parents

(2) Mountain spring water

Mountain spring water is also very popular because it comes from nature and is said to be rich in mineral salts such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, strontium, and orthosilicic acid.

However, mountain spring water may actually pose safety risks.

Although mountain spring water does contain some minerals, it is a bit difficult to use it to supplement minerals.

Take calcium, the most common mineral, for example. The recommended daily intake is 800 mg. The calcium content per liter of spring water is only 20 mg. Drinking it to supplement calcium means you need to drink 40 liters of water every day to make up for it. If you want to supplement minerals purely, you might as well eat vegetables.

Further reading: Does drinking hard water cause kidney stones? Is mineral water healthier? Three myths about drinking water

Moreover, spring water is not sterilized and can easily contain large amounts of bacteria and impurities. Drinking it directly can easily lead to food poisoning[12-13].

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(3) Wild vegetables

Eating wild vegetables has become a trend, but it is actually fraught with dangers.

In fact, many wild vegetables are poisonous. They may also contain a variety of alkaloids, saponins and other plant toxins. Especially for some uncommon wild vegetables, blindly buying and eating them may bring greater safety risks [14-15].

A few years ago, the media reported a family of three in Changping, Beijing. The hostess grew her own vegetables, but she didn't know what varieties to grow. As a result, she grew a wild vegetable commonly known as "sweet eggplant" (scientific name "Solanum nigrum"), which caused the family of three to be poisoned and hospitalized.

Further reading: Is homemade food safer? Reality will only give you a blow!

(4) Homemade wine

Although home-made wine is trendy, it also has risks. The biggest problem is the possible contamination by bacteria.

The sterilization requirements for industrially produced wine during the brewing process are very strict.

However, the sterilization conditions of homemade wine are difficult to control, and it is very likely that foreign bacteria will be mixed in, which will disrupt the normal fermentation of the wine and affect the taste of the wine.

If sterilization is not thorough, bacteria are likely to grow inside and produce toxic substances.

Home-brewed wine is often also affected by technical conditions and knowledge levels, and faces a higher risk of methanol, which can be converted into highly toxic formaldehyde in the human body[16-18].

So, don't be superstitious about homemade wine.