WHEN YOU think about it, it's a miracle that anyone born before about 1975 is still alive, writes FRANK McNALLY. The houses we grew up in were death traps.
We didn't use booster seats in cars; or seat belts. We rode bikes without helmets. We ate food without use-by dates. None of the stuff in the medicine cabinets we could reach had childproof lids. And when we suffered trauma, we were never offered counselling.
But I realise now that all these risks paled alongside another activity I engaged in routinely as a child. It was a consequence of growing up on a dairy farm, and the rest of the family did it too - not that this is an excuse. Anyway, the embarrassing fact is that, for many years and without so much as a thought, I drank unpasteurised milk.
The sheer recklessness of this behaviour has been brought home to me by a string of recent news reports in the US. The term used there is "raw milk"; and, as it happens, many Americans continue to drink the stuff. They tend to be unusual types, however, ranging from rich Californians on the one extreme, to people who form militias and shoot at approaching Government officials on the other.
Between these, in fairness, there are many moderate sorts who also prefer their milk unpasteurised, because they believe it offers health benefits that outweigh the risks; or because it has a lower carbon footprint; or just because it tastes better.
But the sale of raw milk is controversial, and indeed illegal in many states. Consequently, it is a 21st-century version of moonshine, offering big profits for those willing to take the risks. If the Sopranos had survived another season on TV, I predict the New Jersey mob family might have diversified into the milk racket. New Jersey is one of the many US states where its sale is banned, after all, whereas it's still legal in New York - a situation ripe for exploiting.
Already, federal attempts to crack down on the trade as a public health hazard are producing Soprano-style plots. The Food and Drug Administration recently mounted an inquiry into whether a dairy in California (where the sale in raw milk is allowed) had shipped the product illegally across state lines. The agency even tried to get a dairy employee to wear a wire and record incriminating conversations with her boss.
Elsewhere, the "cow-share" is a popular stratagem for circumventing sales bans. If you buy shares in a cow - even one you've never met - you can call the milk your own and drink it legally, describing payments to the farmer as transport costs. For some, cow-sharing now rivals car-sharing as a badge of environmental friendliness.
But this too is under pressure from the law. In 2006, a Canadian farmer went on a month-long hunger strike - consuming only raw milk - after he was arrested for running a cow-share. And in a similar case, an Amish farmer in Ohio appealed on religious grounds when he was busted by undercover investigators and had his dairy licence revoked.
Even pasteurised milk is a latter-day boom industry in the US. "The new oil", the Herald Tribune called it last year, as its price per litre outstripped that of petrol. But with those who really want it willing to pay a premium, there is big money in the hard stuff. Raw milk fetches up to $16 a gallon in Los Angeles. In a modern version of Jack and the Beanstalk, set in LA, the beanstalk might not be sufficient compensation for the loss of the widow's cow.
Meanwhile a court case in Seattle last week has reminded people why so many US states (and countries, including Ireland) ever banned the sale of unpasteurised milk in the first place. The case involved a couple whose dairy farm was linked to an e-coli outbreak in 2005. The pair pleaded guilty to the sale of raw milk and now face fines of up to $100,000 and a possible year in jail.
Even after this, enthusiasts will continue to argue against pasteurisation - especially those who already have digestive tract problems, such as lactose intolerance or Crohn's disease. And they have supporters in the medical world, including Dr Joseph Mercola, a US osteopath with a website who calls raw milk "one of the most profoundly healthy foods".
Against this, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland website lists the other organisms that may be contained in milk, prior to pasteurisation. Alongside e-coli, they include salmonella, listeria, and campylobacter. All of which makes the consumption of raw milk "an unnecessary and unacceptable risk to public health", argues the authority.
When I was a child, not only did we drink the stuff ourselves. Some non-farming neighbours used to buy it from us. Of course, that wasn't illegal at the time (or if it was, we'll say it was a cow-share). In any case, for years, it was a daily ritual for two suburban neighbours to call every morning with their tin gallon cans. Both lived to a good age and died of natural causes, I'm happy to say.
As for us, we drank the milk unquestioningly. Except on those occasions when it would be so fresh as to be still warm, in which case it would leave froth on your tea or cereal; and then, with the distaste of children for any deviation from the norm, we might object. Otherwise we wolfed it down without regard for consequences.
But now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need counselling.