In general it’s legal to sell raw milk privately in every state (though it can’t be shipped across state lines). And several even have laws that let it be sold in stores if it’s labeled raw. The popularity of raw milk has been steadily growing in recent years — last year almost 5% of Americans said it was part of their diet at least occasionally.

On the other hand, there have been foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw dairy products in multiple states in the past year. From 2013-2018, 675 people became ill in 75 separate incidents traced to unpasteurized dairy products by the CDC.

YouGov just asked more than 9,000 American adults about this hot button issue – here are the findings. 

Key Finding 1

More than half of Americans (62%) have never had raw milk, while 8% say they have it regularly and 21% say they have it sometimes but not often.

Key Finding 2

45% of Americans think consuming raw, unpasteurized milk has some dangers, compared to 29% who think it is safe.

Key Finding 3

29% of Americans think it should be legal for stores to sell raw milk, while 25% think it should be illegal.

Click each chart and see the breakdown fulther by Region, Gender, Politics, Age and Race.

From: YouGov