Raw milk battle intensifies with ‘faeces’ claim
Raw milk available to the public exceeds bacteria content guidelines and could be contaminated with faeces, the Minister for Agriculture, Gail Gago, has claimed.
The claim was fobbed off by controversial Willunga dairy farmer Mark Tyler this morning when he told InDaily he would continue to offer his unpasteurised milk via a Cow Share scheme.
Gago told parliament yesterday officers from Biosecurity SA and the Dairy Authority of South Australia had visited Tyler’s farm in Willunga on May 14, following information that raw cow’s milk was being distributed to the public.
“A dairy farm in South Australia has been operating a Cow Share Scheme to allegedly circumvent the law that prohibits the sale of raw cow’s milk to the public,” Gago told parliament.
“I am advised that testing of milk taken for identification from the Willunga premises showed that the milk’s bacteria content exceeded the National Standard set by Food Safety Australia and New Zealand.
“I am advised that the cause of such bacteria levels could be contamination with faeces or other matter.
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“I am further advised that in some cases no labelling at all has been found on the milk coming from these premises.
“This would mean that the produce carries no health warnings such as the fact unpasteurised milk can be unsafe for vulnerable people in the community, such as pregnant women, or use by dates.”
Mark Tyler said today he had been given the test results a week ago and had fixed the contamination issue.
“When we got the high count we found the cause of the problem and fixed it,” he said.
“One of the joins in the milk line was leaking.
“As for the labelling issue; we’re not selling milk so we don’t have to label it.”
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Tyler operates a Cow Share Scheme, similar to one started in Canada two years ago.
Consumers buy a one per cent share in a cow and pay a boarding fee.
In return, they are eligible to receive one and a half litres per week.
“Our aim is to give people the opportunity to source raw milk, based on informed decisions they have made for themselves.
‘We’ll continue doing that.”
Tyler said he wasn’t concerned by the statements made in parliament yesterday.
“The ball’s in their court.
“They are trying to enforce laws that don’t apply to us. We’ll wait and see.”
Similar battles between regulators and raw milk advocates are being waged in the US and Canada.
In 2010, legislation that would have allowed Wisconsin dairy farmers to sell unpasteurized milk directly to consumers was vetoed by then Governor Jim Doyle, who cited public health concerns.
The promoter of a similar Canadian scheme was charged, fined and given a suspended period of imprisonment.
The US government obtained a permanent injunction against a Pennsylvania raw milk producer and a US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing that the rate of disease outbreaks linked to raw milk was 150 times greater than outbreaks linked to pasteurized milk.
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