The Wild Battle Over Raw Milk and Processed Food
Paul Saladino, M.D., uploaded a video titled “Raw Milk Illegal?” to his Instagram account, paulsaladinomd, in September of this year. The slender and muscular 46-year-old is carrying an unremarkable white milk bottle as he strolls by a cow field. 37 states have outlawed raw milk and other dairy products, which are among the healthiest diets for kids. “This is among the most depressing realities I’ve encountered during my research and education,” he says.
There has always been controversy around Dr. Saladino’s “research and learning.” The carnivore diet, the controversial all-meat diet he helped promote with his 2020 book The Carnivore Code, was referenced in his previous social media name, carnivoremd.
Dr. Saladino holds dual board certifications as a physician nutrition expert and a psychiatrist, in addition to his medical degree in psychiatry. On his website, he states that he is “the leading authority on the science and application of the carnivore diet” but also that he is “unable to give medical advice.”
Dr. Saladino changed his name because he stated in social media posts last year that he no longer followed the carnivore diet and instead follows a “animal based” diet that consists of raw dairy, fruit, and honey.
As “Raw Milk Illegal?” goes on, Dr. Saladino refers to pasteurized milk as “dead dairy” and claims that raw dairy can help with dermatitis, sleep problems, and digestive disorders. Dr. Saladino leaps at the audience as the clip ends with a string section swelling, saying, “I’m calling on those 37 states to wake up and to allow you to be able to get raw milk and raw dairy!”
He fails to note that since the 1920s, pasteurization—the process of heating milk to a specific temperature for a predetermined period of time in order to eliminate microorganisms—has been shown to significantly lower the incidence of foodborne diseases.
Dr. Saladino posts often about the miracles of raw milk to his 1.6 million Instagram followers. Respiratory infections, asthma, allergies—cures abound if you just make the switch from pasteurized milk, he says. But you could argue that “Raw Milk Illegal?” is his most combative post on the subject. Even the comments section matches his call to action. “If it’s good for you, they want it gone. Can’t be having healthy people. Bad for business” and “Why’s this world so fucked-up and full of corruption?” are two of the 1,000-plus replies.
Additionally, influencers that resemble Saladino are promoting more than just raw milk. They are ranting against manufacturers’ industrial food processing in all its forms, including pasteurizing dairy products, adding seed oils to peanut butter, and fortifying meals with vitamins and minerals. These proponents of raw foods contend that Big Food is either depriving you of essential nutrients or putting dangerous substances into your body.
Social media influencers are increasingly stoking the long-simmering controversy around processed foods, and raw dairy in particular. Their answer was to eat most of your meals uncooked, including fruit, liver, eggs, honey, dairy, and even heart.
The federal government, public health specialists, and certified dietitians are warning the public that processing isn’t always bad in an effort to combat this increase. Additionally, food processing might potentially save your life when it comes to raw dairy.
Dietitians like Abby Langer, R.D., author of Good Food, Bad Diet and a Men’s Health nutrition advisor, are in favor of separating ultra-processed foods from the other groupings. (Disclosure: Langer says that she has done work that was sponsored by a dairy association.)
“I tell people to eat fewer ultra-processed foods and more minimally processed foods,” says Langer. That way, she says, you’re prioritizing nutrients like muscle-building protein, stomach-filling fiber, and heart-healthy good fats—nutrients largely absent in ultra-processed foods like candy and soda.
Balance, moderation, avoiding foods that will still be edible in 25 years—these make up the sound bedrock of sensible nutrition, right? Except on social media and in the red-pill corners of Reddit, sensible doesn’t sell, which brings us back to Paul Saladino.