Australia lifts ban on raw-milk cheese

Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has lifted a ban on making cheese using raw-milk.

To ensure compliance with this new regulation, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), a joint venture between the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian government, will help food manufactures to manufacture cheese safely.

TIA’s Food Safety Centre associate professor Tom Ross said: "Food safety is essential to industry sustainability and we need to be confident that raw-milk cheese is not going to cause food-borne illnesses from contamination with pathogenic bacteria.

"If you are going to make cheese using raw-milk you need to make sure that the milk does not contain any pathogenic bacteria, like Listeria monocytogenes, and the only way to do that is to test it."

He added that the cheese needs to be processed under strictly controlled conditions to achieve the needed microbiological safety standards.

Meanwhile, the Ministerial Forum has also raised issues regarding the consumption of unpasteurised cow’s milk which comes with a disclaimer ‘not for human consumption’ and is marketed as ‘bath milk’, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Although, raw milk is already banned for human consumption in all Australian states and territories, it is still being consumed by people who vouch for its health benefits.

However, earlier in Victoria tough action was taken against producers of raw milk following the death of a child and hospitalisation of four other children. Inspired by this, in January, Australian premier Mike Baird promised to stop the sale of raw milk at food stores in consultation with other state and territory leaders.