Don't Eat Poop! A Food Safety Podcast · Food Safety Specialists: Matthew Regusci and Francine L Shaw

How a Little Sunlight in Your Milk is Going to Profoundly Change the Dairy Industry with Bob Comstock, CEO of Tamarack Biotics | Episode 131

September 9, 2025·45 min·4 clips

Bob Comstock explains how UV-treated milk more than doubles vaccine antibodies in older adults.

This episode features Bob Comstock, CEO of Tamarack Biotics, explaining his company's ultraviolet light technology for pasteurizing milk. Hosts Francine L. Shaw and Matt Raguse, food safety veterans, explore how this method could transform dairy. Comstock's company developed a UV process that treats milk in thin, turbulent tubes to inactivate pathogens by disrupting their DNA and RNA. The FDA has affirmed this method as legal pasteurization for skim milk, a first for a non-thermal alternative. His technology aims to retain bioactive proteins like lactoferrin and immunoglobulins typically destroyed by heat. A UC Davis clinical trial found that these retained compounds more than doubled antibody production in older adults after vaccination. Comstock cites European studies involving over 27,000 children which concluded raw milk consumption protects against allergies, but heat destroys that effect. His process also avoids "fouling," the sticky buildup in heated milk systems that requires shutdowns every 8-10 hours for cleaning. Comstock argues current FDA regulations lump UV light with ionizing radiation, creating an onerous approval path Congress never intended. He notes milk is the only food where safety is confirmed by proving damage—specifically to the enzyme alkaline phosphatase. The method could significantly improve baby formula by preserving bioactive components without additional heating. Comstock predicts all dairy pasteurization will use UV within 10-15 years due to its energy savings, safety, and nutritional benefits. He is already working with manufacturers globally, expecting faster adoption outside the U.S. than through the FDA's multi-year process. The technology is designed to slot into existing dairy plants, replacing heat exchangers. The hosts and guest acknowledge raw milk's nutritional benefits but emphasize its pathogen risks, citing examples like cats dying from bird flu in raw milk. The tone is conversational and educational, blending technical explanations with accessible analogies like "sunshine in your milk." Listeners interested in food science, dairy industry innovation, and nutritional health would find this compelling. Those seeking purely regulatory debates or who are indifferent to dairy technology might skip it.

As heard by us

A milk-processing debate grounded in plants, regulation, and food safety.

The episode keeps its focus on a simple question with messy consequences: can ultraviolet light replace heat in milk processing, and what would that mean for a dairy system built on regulation, infrastructure, and cost?

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Why you'd press play

You want the story behind UV-treated milk and the FDA roadblock.

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