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Ingredients › Raw and unpasteurised milk

Baby food · 0–36 months

Is raw milk safe for babies?

Raw and unpasteurised milk for babies and toddlers

Pasteurisation heats milk or juice just enough to kill harmful germs. Raw milk, raw-milk cheese, unpasteurised juice and raw egg skip that step. Pikabee flags them in any food for a child under three.

What Pikabee flags, by age

0–6 monthsRED FLAG

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Raw or unpasteurised ingredients are flagged too.

6–12 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged. Raw milk, raw-milk cheese, unpasteurised juice and raw egg can carry Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella.

12–36 monthsRED FLAG

Still flagged. The CDC lists children under 5 among those at higher risk of serious illness from these germs.

What it is

Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurised. It can carry germs including Listeria, E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter, which pasteurisation kills. Young children are among the people most likely to become seriously ill from them.

On packaged foods it shows up in some artisanal cheeses, cold-pressed juices and desserts made with raw egg. Boiled milk at home is a different thing from raw milk on a label.

Names it goes by on labels

Why Pikabee flags it

The US CDC says raw milk can carry germs such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella, and that children under 5 are at higher risk of serious illness from them. WHO's food-hygiene guidance, the “five keys”, advises choosing pasteurised milk. Pikabee flags raw and unpasteurised ingredients in any food for a child under three.

Questions parents ask

Is raw milk safe for a baby under 6 months?

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Raw or unpasteurised ingredients are flagged too.

Is raw milk safe for a 6 to 12 month old baby?

Flagged. Raw milk, raw-milk cheese, unpasteurised juice and raw egg can carry Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella. The US CDC says raw milk can carry germs such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella, and that children under 5 are at higher risk of serious illness from them.

Is raw milk safe for a 1 to 3 year old?

Still flagged. The CDC lists children under 5 among those at higher risk of serious illness from these germs. The US CDC says raw milk can carry germs such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella, and that children under 5 are at higher risk of serious illness from them.

Can babies have raw milk?

Pikabee flags raw and unpasteurised milk in any food for a child under three. The CDC lists young children among those most at risk from the germs it can carry.

Is boiled milk the same as pasteurised?

Boiling heats milk well past pasteurisation temperature. Pikabee reads packaged labels, and flags “raw” or “unpasteurised” when the label says so.

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Sources

  1. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Raw milk: germs such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella; children under 5 at higher risk.
  2. WHO (2006). Five keys to safer food manual.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Related ingredients

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.