RFK Jr. Wants Us To Drink More Raw Milk. Raw Milk Just Killed a Newborn Baby After Mother Drank It During Pregnancy

A tragic infant death highlights the high stakes of unpasteurized dairy.

04 Feb 2026, 19:23 by Mihai Andrei · ZME Science

New Mexico state health officials announced on Tuesday that a newborn succumbed to a fatal infection likely contracted because the mother drank raw, unpasteurized milk during her pregnancy.

Unfortunately, this is a common story; or rather, it used to be a common story because we figured out that we can pasteurize milk and kill pathogens a century ago. But the rise of trendy 21st-century “wellness” trends is bringing these unwanted infections back.

When Milk Can Kill

“Raw milk can contain numerous disease-causing germs, including Listeria, which is bacteria that can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, or fatal infection in newborns, even if the mother is only mildly ill,” the New Mexico Department of Health said in the press release. While the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) cannot definitively link the death to a specific bottle, milk is by far the most likely culprit.

But despite warnings that unpasteurized dairy can bypass the placental barrier to infect fetuses, the product has gained political momentum through high-profile endorsements from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

When a person drinks raw milk, they’re swallowing a microbial lottery. They may get lucky and not get any bacteria. Or, if they’re unlucky they can get sick.

Most healthy adults recover from Listeria after a few horrid days of “stomach flu.” But during pregnancy, the immune system undergoes a tactical retreat. It dials itself down so it doesn’t accidentally attack the “foreign” DNA of the growing fetus. This creates a window of vulnerability. Pregnant people are far more likely to develop a Listeria infection than the average adult. And Listeria is one of the pathogens capable of crossing the placental barrier.

Once it crosses, it attacks the fetus directly. The mother might only feel a slight fever or a backache, unaware that the fetus is at grave risk. The results are often devastating like miscarriage or stillbirth, or, as we saw in New Mexico, a newborn born with a bloodstream or brain teeming with infection.

The Politics of “Pure” Milk

Before the 1920s, dairy was responsible for about 25% of all foodborne illnesses in the United States. It was a leading carrier of bovine tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever, among others.

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Then came Louis Pasteur. He discovered that if you heat milk to 161°F (72°C) for just 15 seconds and then cool it down, you kill the pathogens without ruining the milk. It was a miracle of public health. Since pasteurization became the standard, dairy-related illnesses have plummeted, accounting for only about 1% of foodborne outbreaks today.

But we’re now seeing a bizarre reversal.

A growing segment of the population views pasteurization as a corporate “processing” step that strips milk of its “soul.” They think raw milk is healthier, despite the abundant evidence that shows the opposite.

Before taking office, Kennedy was a vocal cheerleader for the raw milk movement. And he still seems to support it now. He has characterized the FDA’s long-standing restrictions on unpasteurized dairy as a “war on public health”. He has described it as an example of “aggressive suppression” by the government. And he has famously claimed to drink only raw milk himself, framing it as a choice of personal liberty and superior nutrition.

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The problem is that the bacteria don’t care about your politics.

They don’t care about “food freedom” and what’s trendy among politicians. They only care about a warm, nutrient-rich environment to replicate. When a high-ranking official suggests that the FDA’s safety standards are a form of oppression, it’s giving bacteria a helping hand.