Chris - 1/4/2026 18:01

A systematic review found that, from 2007 through 2020 in the U.S. and Canada, 12 outbreaks involving pasteurized dairy products resulted in **174 confirmed illnesses, 134 hospitalizations, and 17 deaths (plus seven fetal losses). Many of these were due to Listeria contamination that occurred after pasteurization due to environmental contamination in the processing facility.
PubMed

Historical outbreak data also show documented cases where pasteurized milk was associated with disease outbreaks, such as listeriosis in Massachusetts that had a high fatality rate among the infected group.
PubMed

 Why these deaths occur

Pasteurization dramatically reduces the risk of harmful bacteria (e.g., Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria), but it cannot fix contamination that happens after pasteurization (during handling or packaging). Listeria, in particular, can contaminate product post-pasteurization in the processing environment.
PubMed

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RAW MILK
1. No officially confirmed deaths in the last ~5 years (U.S. data).

CDC and FDA outbreak data show many illnesses and hospitalizations linked to raw milk, but no deaths directly attributed to raw milk consumption have been reported in the U.S. in recent years.

Analyses of long-term outbreak data (e.g., 2005–2020) indicate very few deaths historically and none in recent decades, according to CDC data examined by analysts.
Raw Milk Institute

2. Historical deaths from raw milk are rare.

Looking at older aggregated data (1998–2018), there were a small number of deaths (e.g., 3 total) historically linked to raw milk outbreaks, but this spans ~20 years and not just the last 5 years.