I'm not exaggerating when I say that I haven't had a glass of milk for about 25 years. I know that milk can strengthen my bones, replenish lost vitamin and generally do a body good [0], but personally, I don't much like the stuff.

So, I'm essentially on the sidelines when it comes to the increasingly intense (and interesting) battle of the milks [0].

The question comes down to this: Is raw milk -- which can harbor dangerous pathogens -- healthier than the homogenized, pasteurized stuff, which is possibly loaded with chemicals and hormones?

For decades, government health officials have insisted that raw, untreated milk is a health hazard. Since 1998, it has sickened thousands (and killed a few) by harboring hazardous strains of bacteria, such as salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and others.

Some 20 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration banned interstate sale of raw milk and in many states, selling it is against the law. So much for milk's ultra-wholesome image.

In states where raw milk isn't considered contraband, however, people are increasingly joining the raw milk movement. According to a recent Associated Press article [1], the demand for raw milk is exploding, due to concerns about the hormones and chemicals found in conventional milk.

Raw milk advocates -- who are willing to pay upwards of $5 a gallon -- claim that the pasteurization process, which involves heat, denatures proteins and enzymes that help the body absorb nutrients. They also say that conventional milk gives them digestive problems and causes them to feel sick. And let's face it, the antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones used in modern dairy practices are, even at a cursory level, downright unsettling.

Most scientists, health officials and food safety activists say that concerns pasteurization are not backed up by science. According to the FDA and Centers for Disease Control, however, pasteurization has no effect on milk's taste or nutritional value.

In any case, this is one of those debates that's likely to remain unresolved for years to come. Fortunately, there's an easy solution for those of us who think the point is moooot see the downsides of both options: Most grocery stores now devote an entire aisle to the many varieties of soy, rice and almond milk.