The International Scientific Conference on Raw Milk was held in Valencia, Spain on October 23-25, 2019 and the video presentations were recently posted on YouTube presumably for all to enjoy.
The topics were ‘The ecology of raw milk’ and ‘The benefits of raw milk for human health’.
Thank you very much for sharing this valuable information for the benefit of the global raw milk movement. This conference was held just a month after the annual Slow Food Cheese event in Bra, Italy, which caused a great deal of excitement.
The objective of this conference was to shed a light on the world of raw milk, thanks to the contribution of the scientific community. To promote an international network of scientific experts on raw milk that helps to bring results to consumers, health professionals and authorities, the media and the productive sector. According to this page, the network will also have as an objective to undertake new projects of investigation and popularisation of raw milk science.
Most presenters presented in a European language, but there were presentations in the english language from those already known to the global raw milk movement, like Prof Ton Baars, Bronwen Percival, and Dr Cat Berge.
The presentations were on both raw drinking milk and raw milk cheese. The agenda and digital copies of some presentations can be found on this website. Due to the language barrier, this article will focus on the english presentations, but please be aware that even though some video presentations are in a language Australians may not understand, the PDF presentations on the agenda page are in english, and they are well worth an in depth exploration. Many of the speakers have a long list of scientific credentials and are highly regarded in their particular fields of expertise. Even if we may not be familiar with them due to the language barrier, they are not less relevant or important. Learn more about the speakers here. In addition, the the Scientific Committee received 36 beautifully illustrated posters, take a look on this page.
To watch all the english presentations, visit this page
Image: by Jose Bas
Please take the time to watch to these video presentations in particular, AND look at the PDF documents:
Raw milk and health from a historical and modern perspective - Lecture by Prof Ton Baars
For the past ten years, his research interests have been related to milk quality differentiation and raw milk as it relates to health. Currently, he works as a senior scientist for milk quality and animal welfare for the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick, Switzerland. Since 2015, Ton is cooperating with the medical faculty of Utrecht University on food allergy and asthma in relation to milk processing, milk origins, and milk products.
What are the risks of consuming raw milk products and how do they compare to other food commodities? - Lecture by Dr Catharina Berge
Anna Catharina Berge is a Swedish veterinarian and epidemiologist with expertise in food animal production from farm to fork. Dr Berge’s experience ranges from working directly in animal husbandry, large animal practice, veterinary animal and public health legislation, public health and scientific research.
Raw milk, allergies, asthma and respiratory infections: main results of the «PASTURE » - Lecture by Prof Dominique A. Vuitton
Professor emeritus of Clinical Immunology at the Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté. Medical Specialities: Internal Medicine, Digestive Diseases and General Surgery. PhD in Immunology and MSc in Human Biology.
Autochthonous lactic acid bacteria from milk: Why and how is it necessary to preserve it? - Lecture by Prof Helene Tormo
She is an engineer in Food Science ( 1989, Polytech Montpellier) and PhD in Microbial Ecology (University of Toulouse, 2010). She has been working during 13 years in R&D raw milk cheese technology and microbiology for cheese farmers (ACTALIA, Centre de Carmejane).
Round table: the perception and actual situation of raw milk in different countries
This video includes contributions from Paul Thomas, cheese and dairy training and consultation in the United Kingdom (The Wheymaker), Susan Sturman, Mons Academy and American Cheese Society, Kerstin Jürss, President of the Swedish Association of Artisan Cheesemakers, and others.
Round table. Communication: how to spread research results to stakeholders.
This video includes contributions from Bronwen Percival, Technical Director of Neal’s Yard Dairy Ltd. and co-author of the book Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes, and the Fight for Real Cheese, Frédéric Blanchard, President of ANPLF, France, and others.
Below is a full list of conference presenters, according to the agenda, and a direct link to their PDF presentations. Find the videos on the YouTube channel:
María Jesús Jiménez Horwitz, President of the Spanish Network of Farmhouse and Artisan Cheese Dairies (QueRed)
Frédéric Blanchard, President of the Farmhouse and Artisan Cheese and Dairy Producers European Network (FACEnetwork)
Eduardo Gómez Carazo, Deputy Director of Food Safety and Public Health Laboratories of the Valencian Autonomous Government.
Presenter and moderator: María Remedios Carrasco Sánchez, coordinator of QueRed and general coordinator of the Conference
Prof. Dr. Céline Delbès, Clermont-Auvergne University – INRA, France.
Dr. Catharina Berge, BCV BVBA, Belgium.
Prof. Dr. Hélène Tormo, Toulouse University, France
Prof. Luca Settanni, Palermo University, Italy
Dr. Milena Brasca, The Institute of Sciences of Food Production- National Research Council (CNR-ISPA), Italy.
Microbial biodiversity in raw milk cheeses: a potential source of health.
Prof. Dr. Ton Baars, Utrecht University, Netherlands.
Raw milk and health from a historical and modern perspective.
Beatriz Martínez Zamorano. Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), Spain.
María Carmen Collado, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology-National Research Council (IATA-CSIC), Spain
Breast milk microbiota and factors influencing its composition
Prof. Dr. Dominique A. Vuitton, Bourgogne Franche-Comté University, France.
#ValenciaRawMilk
#ValenciaLecheCruda
Image: by Jose Bas. As part of the conference, there were also visits to cheese dairies and other local places, cheese tastings, a poster exhibition, debates, an awards ceremony, space for networking, etc.
Interesting Observations:
Prof Ton Baars reveals in his presentation that the raw milk solution started in 1905 and the regulated raw drinking milk system or ‘Vorzugsmilch’ in Germany has been operational since the 1930s. He has been involved in many of the well known raw milk studies.
Prof. Dr. Dominique Vuitton sang the praises of the PASTURE raw milk study initiated 17+ years ago, and also revealed that a co-ordinator of the study had passed away the week before she presented her lecture, but that she counted herself fortunate to dedicate her presentation to him. The PASTURE study is one of the most significant European raw milk studies.
Lactic Acid Bacteria: A traditional safety tool
Prof Helene Tormo gave an interesting presentation about why it is important to preserve lactic acid bacteria, and the valuable microbial diversity in raw milk. In her presentation she explains how important ‘good’ microbial communities of milk is for cheesemaking, and why we need to continue to explore these microbial systems and the flow from animal housing to cheese. It is a traditional tool for cheesemaking. For many years and particularly since the implementation of European Food law, hygienic dairy practices have been improved. As expected, the level of undesirable microorganisms has been reduced, but consequently the natural microbiota patterns have been affected and particularly, Non Starter Lactic Acid Bacteria (NSLAB). NSLAB play key roles in cheese making. They contribute to the flavour, texture, nutritional value and safety of fermented foods. Some of them provides competitiveness against bacteria colonising in gastrointestinal tracts. Her aim was to underline the practices that preserve or/and enhance this autochtonous LAB from the stable environment, the milking, to the beginning of making cheese.
University of California Davis study of American retail raw milk
The reason why this article highlights Prof Helene Tormo’s work, is because of a different study, published just a few days before the conference videos became available. Researchers at University of California Davis found two things that surprised them: they did not find large quantities of beneficial bacteria in raw milk samples collected, and if this milk was left at room temperature in what one researcher called temperature abuse, they claim it could grow bacteria with antimicrobial-resistance genes. They analysed more than 2,000 retail milk samples from five different states, including raw milk and pasteurised milk in different ways. The study found raw milk had the highest prevalence of antibiotic-resistant microbes when left to culture at room temperature. Yet, the video in the original article also state the following: “little is know about the extent of antibiotic-resistant microbes present in raw milk sold at retail stores”. The title of the UC Davis article is Raw Milk May Do More Harm Than Good.
We already know that antibiotic-resistant microbes are everywhere thanks to factors like antibiotic abuse, unhealthy intensified farming operations and chemicals and systems that are stressors of microbes. ARMM has written about mitigating this risk, and understanding how it came about as a man-made problem, on several different pages on our website.
According to the UC Davis article, Dairy Food Science David Mills had said that if consumers eat raw milk clabber (which is intentionally letting it outside the refrigerator to culture at room temperature), they are likely adding a larger number of antimicrobial-resistant genes to their gut.
However, he suggested that consumers instead use a starter culture if they want to ferment raw milk, which carries specific strains of bacteria to inoculate the milk.
Image: a real, live kefir grain can be purchased online in Australia.
Food writer David Gumpert wrote an article about this study and there were some interesting comments in the comments section. This news generated lots of questions that are not answered. David wrote: “Why do the beneficial bacteria get overwhelmed by the antibiotic resistant bacteria? And how is production of kefir, based on addition of starter bacteria, affected by such milk? Clearly there is more research to be done here. In the meantime, raw milk drinkers buying their milk at retail outlets might want to think twice before they clabber their milk.”
Also, the global raw milk movement had gotten accustomed to naysayers and their usual fear-mongering, with the intention to get rid of raw milk and raw milk cheese in the marketplace, which are competition for other more processed products. Negative press and the usual fear dredging around raw drinking milk had become scarce in recent years, because increased raw milk risk management training in North America has meant there hasn’t been reason for sensationalist negative press. Dairy farmers were now practising a lot of hygienic dairy manufacturing processes to prevent pathogens from being in the raw drinking milk, in order to continue producing a high demand, high value product.
It now seems evident that valuable lessons can be learnt from this experience.
As Prof Helene Tormo points out, too much cleaning now also means that less lactic acid bacteria, and less microbial diversity - that lend protective and safety qualities to the raw milk - transfers to the milk. European artisan cheesemaking wisdom passed from pre-industrial times show how extremely valuable the innate microbiology are, as discussed at the conference by Bronwen Percival and others.
Kefir Microbes for Increased Food Safety!
Fortunately there is a solution for (American) consumers to inoculate retail raw drinking milk at home. At the time when they are ready to remove the raw milk from the refrigerator, they can culture/ferment it, in order to enjoy the benefits of the increased food safety that lactic acid bacteria provides, with the use of kefir grains, in making raw milk kefir. Real live kefir grains typically provide a larger diversity of beneficial microbes as part of their gelatinous structure, compared to commercially available milk starter cultures. According to this study the microorganisms in the kefir grains produce their own lactic acid, natural antibiotics and bactericides which inhibit the development of pathogens. No food is 100% safe, but there is a lot we can do to make it low-risk, when we understand the dynamics. The ultimate goal of culturing high quality raw milk is all about multiplying the good microbes, and not the wrong ones.
““We don’t want to scare people, we want to educate them. If you want to keep drinking raw milk, keep it in your refrigerator to minimize the risk of it developing bacteria with antibiotic-resistant genes.””
Two types of Raw Milk?
New data from the BC Fresh Milk Project shows that with Raw Milk Institute training, raw drinking milk can be produced to be very unlikely to contain pathogens, read more here. “Up to 24% of milk intended for pasteurisation contains pathogens, whereas carefully produced raw milk is very unlikely to contain pathogens”.
In this article, the Raw Milk Institute explains why there are two types of raw milk.
Related Articles:
Red de Queserías de Campo y Artesanas redqueserias YouTube channel
Raw Milk May Do More Harm Than Good
STUDY: Reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes in retail raw milk
Antibiotic-resistant microbes: Why do we have this Man-Made Problem?
Raw Milk Institute: Two types of raw milk
http://www.bcherdshare.org/education/two-types-of-raw-milk-lab-evidence.pdf
