TABLE 2. Attitudes, perceptions and practices among all current raw milk consumers Exclusivity Item Overall Exclusive Current RM Consumers Non-Exclusive Current RM Consumers (n = 58) (n = 27) (n = 31) P-valuea Days per week consuming raw milk; % (n) < 1 day/week 1-3 days/week 4-6 days/ week Every day < 0.001 17.5 (10) 19.3 (11) 19.3 (11) 43.9 (25) 0.0 (0) 14.8 (4) 14.8 (4) 70.4 (19) 33.3 (10) 23.3 (7) 23.3(7) 20.0 (6) Source of purchasing raw milk; % (n)b Local farm/Ranch At home Retail store Dairy Farmers' market 50.0 (29) 48.3 (28) 12.1 (7) 8.6 (5) 8.6 (5) 51.9 (14) 59.2 (16) 11.1 (3) 14.8 (4) 7.4 (2) 48.4 (15) 38.7 (12) 12.9 (4) 3.2 (1) 9.7 (3) 0.79 0.12 1 0.17 1 Reasons for drinking raw milk; % (n)b Taste Holistic health benefits Support local farms Disease prevention Feel processed milk is not safe Convenience Cost 72.4 (42) 67.2 (39) 60.3 (35) 50.0 (29) 37.9 (22) 15.5 (9) 8.6 (5) 74.0 (20) 92.6 (25) 66.7 (17) 59.2 (16) 59.3 (16) 18.5 (5) 11.1 (3) 71.0 (22) 45.2 (14) 54.8 (17) 42.0 (13) 19.4 (6) 12.9 (4) 6.5 (2) 0.79 < 0.001 0.36 0.19 0.002 0.72 0.65 Does not trust recommendations made by state health officials regarding which foods are safe to eat; % (n) 67.9 (36) 81.5 (22) 53.9 (14) 0.03 Does not believe that drinking raw milk increases the risk of getting sick; % (n) 96.2 (50) 92.0 (23) 100 (27) 0.23 P-values indicate whether a significant difference exists between the predictor variable by consumption group status. Participants could indicate all applicable responses. a b raw milk. These results were consistent with reasons given for consumption with a cohort of Michigan raw milk consumers (7). Some evidence from epidemiological studies have shown the consumption of raw milk to be 108 Food Protection Trends March/April protective against asthma, hay fever and atopic sensitization (2, 4, 9). Additionally, raw milk is believed to contain more vitamins and minerals prior to pasteurization (3). However, two recent reviews have concluded there is