Following a decision by a State court that a ban on advertising raw milk was unconstitutional, the state of Kansas will impose a label warning confirming the risk of consuming unpasteurized milk.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture is supporting Senate Bill 308 requiring a warning label but is not in favor of parallel Senate Bill 300 requiring a complete and total ban on the sale of unpasteurized or raw milk.

Despite the claims made by approximately 40 raw-milk dairies, there is no scientific basis that raw milk is any more nutritious than pasteurized milk.  There is no question that raw milk may be contaminated with a range of bacterial pathogens responsible for brucellosis, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, campylobacterosis, colibacillosis and listeriosis.

The proposed warming label will read:- This product contains upgraded raw milk, it is not pasteurized and as a result may contain organisms that cause food-borne illness especially in infants, young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems.

From 2007-2012 outbreaks associated with raw milk were four times higher than the average number from 1993-2006 according to the CDC.  It is generally accepted that raw milk is associated with 80 percent of milk-borne infections while representing less than two percent of consumption.