The battle over milk: consumption, public health and the industrialization of the milk supply in São Paulo, 1911-1945.

Abstract

In 1911, the city of São Paulo decided to modernize its milk supply system by opening up the import market for industrially pasteurized milk. But the industrial product was widely rejected, creating even more demand for raw milk produced in small barns under potentially unsafe conditions. This study examines how public authorities handled the double challenge of both minimizing the health risks of raw milk and helping to improve the industrial product, over the course of three decades. The article ends with an analysis of the effects of mandatory pasteurization, introduced in 1939, which equated to a ban on the sale of raw milk in the city of São Paulo.