It comes with a warning label similar to that on a carton of cigarettes or a bottle of liquor. Although fans rave about its health benefits, health officials warn of its connection to illness. And it's illegal to sell on grocery shelves in Allegheny County.

Raw milk is milk that is not pasteurized or homogenized. The niche of raw milk followers prefers the milk just as humans consumed it for thousands of years: derived from free-roaming, grass-fed cows instead of from cows that are fed grain or fruit scraps, which don't digest well. They praise its taste and benefits, such as curing infant diarrhea and even tuberculosis, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation's Campaign for Real Milk Web site, www.realmilk.com.

But health experts and health departments nationwide denounce its consumption. Guillermo Cole, public information officer for the Allegheny County Health Department, compared consuming raw milk to consuming raw or undercooked meat or seafood.

		Learn to keep it raw If you've ever considered a raw food diet, or just want to incorporate more raw foods into your diet, here's your chance to learn how. On Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Mildreds' Daughters Urban Farm in Stanton Heights is hosting a workshop called "Raw Foods: Cool Cooking for Hot Weather." The raw food diet comprises unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit and seaweed. Heating food above 116 degrees is thought to destroy enzymes in food that aid digestion and absorption, and also lessen its nutritional value. The class will show how people easily can incorporate raw foods into their diets, especially during the growing season and without expensive equipment. "We have a very plant-centered diet," said Leah Shannon of Stanton Heights, mother of two young children and a food enthusiast with a master's degree in public policy from Carnegie Mellon University. She is the daughter-in-law of the farm's co-owner, Randa Shannon, and will use its organic produce to make zucchini pasta and its sauce, salsa crudo, among other things. She'll serve them as a light lunch on the deck of the straw-bale barn where the workshop will be held. The class, which also includes a tour of the farm, costs $20 per person. Registration is necessary; call 412-799-0833 or e-mail mildredsdaughters@earthlink.net. -- Patricia Lowry

"We don't like to encourage this," he said. "We feel there is an increased risk of food-borne illness, especially in certain populations," including pregnant women and young children.

Raw milk is illegal to sell for human consumption in 22 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation. Although it's legal to sell in Pennsylvania, Allegheny County has a law that supersedes the state in the banning of raw milk sales unless directly from the farmer. A store or other seller can sell it only if it applies for and receives a variance from the county, which recently offered its first variance to a farmers market vendor.

Raw milk is growing in popularity with consumers. Seventy-three farms in Pennsylvania have licenses to sell raw milk and raw cheese products. This number has more than tripled in the past three or four years, and many more farmers are applying for licenses, said Brian Snyder, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

But raw milk also has become a debated substance across the country, and the controversy is heating up locally because of the county's sales restriction.

McGinnis Sisters Special Food Stores on Route 51 in Brentwood recently had raw milk on its shelves -- for about two days. The store sold only about six bottles before the health department ordered it to be pulled. A consumer filed a complaint to the health department on July 26, Mr. Cole said. To be able to sell raw milk, McGinnis Sisters will have to apply for the variance, which Mr. Cole said is required "to regulate the middleman."

Jennifer Daurora, a business development analyst for McGinnis Sisters, said quite a few consumers have requested the milk, but the store respects the county's concern and will apply for a variance.

This is the first time the issue of selling raw milk has come up here, Mr. Cole said. The county just approved a variance for Marilyn Fry of Pleasant Hills, who contacted the health department in June to inquire about selling raw milk from her son's farm at the Bethel Park farmers market. Originally the health department said no, she said, but after two weeks Ms. Fry received information in the mail to apply for a variance. She mailed in the paperwork July 1 and received a reply July 30 that she could get a variance.

Raw milk producers and vendors are held to strict standards. For Ms. Fry's variance to sell raw milk at a farmers market, Mr. Cole said that three stipulations apply: The product can be sold only at a farmers market; the product can be sold only by an employee of the farm or someone connected to the farm; and the seller must display a sign at all times that states "consuming raw milk may increase the risk of food-borne illness, especially in vulnerable populations." The state also requires warning labels on bottles sold in stores.

With any variance, state regulations still apply. All bottling equipment must be inspected and approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and the farmer must have a certified Grade A milk certificate.

Ms. Fry said she isn't sure whether she will use the variance because she would have to pay the county $52.50 for a 2007 food-selling permit, and she'll also have to pay for space at the farmers market, and the year and the farmers market season are almost over, she said. She's not sure whether she can make a profit.

But people still find ways to get their milk. Mr. Cole said that it is legal for Pennsylvania farmers with a state bottler permit to sell raw milk directly to consumers from their farms. Ms. Fry's son sells about 30 gallons of milk per week from his farm in Monongahela, Washington County.

Carrie Hahn drives 30 minutes from her Mt. Lebanon home to a farm in Washington County every Friday to pick up a week's worth of milk for her family and a dozen other families. She pays about $5 for a gallon of the fresh, straight-from-the-udder milk. She said that this "pure" milk has "all of the good bacteria and live enzymes that Mother Nature intended." Pasteurization and homogenization rid the milk of many of these bacteria and enzymes. The new ultra-pasteurized method, she said, kills so many of these that the milk is "completely dead."

She and other fans of raw milk rave about its health effects, despite criticism among the medical community. Ms. Hahn, a representative for the local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, has been a raw milk drinker for about five years, and she says she's noticed a significant increase in her and her family's health. No longer does her youngest daughter suffer from allergies and eczema, which Ms. Hahn attributes to the use of raw milk.

"If you're gonna drink milk, this is the way it ought to be consumed," she said.

Ms. Fry also said that she knows individuals who have benefitted from raw milk consumption, including people who were lactose intolerant but who could drink the raw milk with no problems. She and her husband switched to raw milk in January. They don't usually drink store-bought milk, but she said that the raw milk has a taste all its own.

Although McGinnis Sisters has yet to apply for a variance, Ms. Daurora said the store will carry the product if it receives the variance. The company believes that supporting local farmers is the most important issue behind attaining a variance. And it'll be easier for many customers to get to the store than to a farm. But Ms. Daurora acknowledges that raw milk might not be for everyone.

"Consumers need to do a lot of research and consult the physicians to see if the product is right for them."