1 in 6 who Drink Raw Milk will Get Sick

Ever had a glass of raw milk-in other words, dairy that hasn't been pasteurized in order to kill germs?

Well, new statistics from the Minnesota Department of Health show that on average, one in six people who drink it will become ill due to bacterial or parasitic infections.

In fact, researchers found via 530 laboratory-confirmed cases of infections that raw milk often contained Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter.

However, what makes this health issue worse is that many cases of infection are not reported or even confirmed in a laboratory, according to Live Science.

"The risk for illness associated with raw milk is far greater than what was determined based on recognized outbreaks," said study researcher Trish Robinson, an epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of health, via the news organization. 

Based on their findings, researchers estimated that around 20,502 Minnesotans, or 17 percent of raw milk consumers, became ill during the study period.

"Fortunately, most people recover, but sometimes it can cause more severe symptoms or long-term diseases, such as nervous system disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome, or reactive arthritis, which is inflammation in the joints that develop in response to a bacterial infection," Robinson said. 

Study findings showed that approximately 20 percent of those who became ill developed a serious complication of bacterial infection known as hemolytic uremic syndrome that can cause kidney failure, along with sporadic cases of other bacterial infections.

However, researchers note that the study was, in some ways, limited through the small amount of data available.