NEED TO KNOW
- Nara Smith shared a video of herself on TikTok drinking unpasteurized milk with freshly baked cinnamon roll cookies
- The pregnant influencer, 23, was highly criticized in the comment section of her June 26 post for drinking the beverage
- The Food and Drug Administration considers the process of pasteurization crucial as it kills harmful germs that can cause illness, such as listeriosis, typhoid fever and tuberculosis
An influencer has come under fire after sharing a video of herself drinking unpasteurized milk — just one month after announcing that she is pregnant with her fourth child.
Nara Smith, 23, documented the process of baking cinnamon roll cookies as a late-night snack to share with her husband, Lucky Blue Smith in a video uploaded to TikTok on June 26. She revealed that they would be enjoying the sweet treats alongside a beverage that is widely considered unsafe to drink.
“Once the cookies were done, we set them on a cooling rack to cool before drizzling them with [some] icing,” Nara said in a voiceover. “Even though I’m not a fan of cookies, these hit the spot with some cold raw milk.”
Raw milk refers to milk that has not been pasteurized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Food and Drug Administration are among the many health organizations that consider the process of pasteurization “crucial” as it “[kills] harmful germs that can cause illness” — especially in vulnerable populations, such as children, older adults, and pregnant women.
The pasteurization process involves “heating milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time,” according to the FDA. It kills organisms responsible for diseases such as listeriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria and more.
Commenters on Nara’s TikTok were quick to criticize the soon-to-be mom-of-four for consuming raw milk despite its known risks.
“Raw milk? While PREGNANT?” one commenter wrote. “I mean it’s bad in general, but girl…”
“Nurse here…do NOT use unpasteurized, raw milk! Dangerous to you, baby and kids!!” another chimed in.
“Raw milk while pregnant is crazy😭,” a third critic said. “Why is pasteurization a problem?”
Nara has not yet publicly addressed the criticism.
A representative for the influencer did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, July 13.
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The influencer and her husband, 27, announced that they are expecting their fourth baby with an Instagram post on June 8. Their news came less than one year after they told GQ that they were done having more kids.
“Our little surprise🥹🤍,” the models captioned their joint social media announcement, which included a video of them affectionately embracing.
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Nara got her viral start by posting videos of her in the kitchen, cooking elaborate recipes from scratch for her young kids, but rejects the notion that domesticity defines her.
During a July 9 appearance on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, she pushed back against being labeled a “tradwife” and said it was a stereotype that others have projected onto her.
“I’m very busy. I travel almost every week. I have kids that I raise,” she told Shetty. “I love being in the kitchen because it’s a passion of mine, not because I have to.”
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