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Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 10 11:18 am Post subject:
Whilst looking I came across this article. Where do these people get off? Two kids struck down by E coli, both in a country where raw milk is banned and that same country has higher levels of E coli and England & Wales, and somehow raw milk is to blame for that! This is a prime example of how illogical the anti-raw milk lobbyists are - even the evidence against them is used as justification.

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 10 12:29 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Now it needs to go further and ban altogether a product that kills

I cannot believe that end of article statement. Every house is full of any number of potentially killer substances - add onto that under-cooked food and on the basis of that quote we should ban everything

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 10 12:34 pm Post subject:
Oh for goodness sake! . That article's 2006, too, so clearly they haven't had much luck so far. Luckily!

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 10 12:43 pm Post subject:

I've also been reading about how the Welsh want to ban it. The stats I have seen say 0.01% of milk is consumed raw yet it's (according to some) a 'massive public health issue'. I've seen the list of all dairy establishments (brought about due to the 2006 regs) but they don't indicate which ones produce Raw Cows' Drinking Milk, so it can't be that much of an issue. Thankfully the FSA have a little more of a sensible approach on it and have managed to stave off Labour's attempts to get a ban.

And raw milk is the only foodstuff in the UK required to have a health warning.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 11 9:09 am Post subject:
Raw milk sales double

Mustang

Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 768
Location: Sunny Suffolk

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 11 9:48 pm Post subject:
So I've found a local farm which sells raw milk. Are there any sensible questions I need to ask them about the quality and safety of their milk before buying?

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 11 8:34 am Post subject:

You could ask them about their feeding and grazing regimes - cows fed a high proportion of the dietary needs as forage inherently have healthier milk and better hygiene (within reason, though obviously it doesn't avoid post milking contamination).

Asking to see their cows and milking facilities (all the better if you can see a milking) will tell you more by their reaction than any technical knowledge. If they're passionate to talk openly about it and give you a guided tour you can be pretty sure that they are worthy.

You could ask about their TB testing (if registered as a raw milk producer they will be tested annually) but providing they are registered then you will be pretty safe there - the rules are so tight that TB hasn't been contracted from drinking inspected raw milk for a couple of generations - it's just used as scaremongering based upon very old precedents. Like most things that are 'different' the bar is set much higher than for the conventional. However you're probably best not going into their testing unless you know all about it - providing they are licensed and inspected (and passed!) that is all you need to know.

Quote:

1. The current controls on the sale of raw cows' drinking milk in hygiene and food labelling regulations are:

a) the milk may only be sold direct to consumers by registered milk production holdings (at the farm gate or in a farmhouse catering operation) or through milk roundsmen. Sales through other outlets have been banned since 1985 (although sales by the farmer at farmers markets are allowed);

b) the supplying animals must be from a herd that is officially tuberculosis free, and either brucellosis free or officially brucellosis free;

c) the production holding, milking premises and dairy, must comply with hygiene rules;

d) the milk must bear the appropriate health warning;

e) compliance with a) to d) above is monitored by inspections twice a year; and

f) the milk is sampled and tested quarterly under the control of Animal Health Dairy Hygiene to monitor compliance with standards for total bacterial count and coliforms.

2. The sale of raw drinking milk from sheep, goats or buffaloes:

a) is not subject to the restriction at 1a) above;

b) raw drinking milk from buffaloes has to comply with the herd status requirement at 1b) above;

c) raw drinking milk from sheep and goats must come from animals belonging to a production holding that is either officially brucellosis free or brucellosis free;

d) raw drinking milk from these 3 species must comply with dairy hygiene rules and microbiological standards;

e) In England, raw drinking milk from sheep and goats, but not buffaloes, has to carry the health warning. In Wales, raw milk from all three species has to carry the appropriate health warning; and

f) compliance with these requirements is monitored at inspections programmed on a risk basis.

3. The sale of raw cream:

a) is not subject to the restrictions at 1a) and d) above;

b) must comply with all the requirements that apply to milk based products under dairy hygiene rules and microbiological standards;

c) must be made with milk meeting the herd status criteria described in paragraphs 1b) and 2b) and c) above;

d) raw cream is not required to carry the health warning; and

e) compliance with these requirements is, again, monitored at inspections programmed on risk.

https://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/guidancenotes/hygguid/rawmilkcream

Good advice can also be sought here; https://www.naturalfoodfinder.co.uk/unpasteurised-raw-milk-uk

Mustang

Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 768
Location: Sunny Suffolk

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 11 9:57 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the tips Rob. I went along to the farm today, and collected my milk. Jersey raw milk, fresh from the cow. They had just finished milking so it was very fresh.

They told me about their grazing/feeding regime without me asking. Even which fields they were using. In summer they put them on naturally reclaimed coastal flats (ready salted beef maybe?) but after they cut the fields for silage. They aren't certified organic, but farm to organic standards. They were more than happy for me to wander over the farm to see the cows, even pointing me at a large barn where some cows had just given birth the day before.

They make raw cream, butter, ice-cream as well. They make runs into London, stopping at a number of locations for pick-ups.

Very occasionally, they have Jersey Beef available. They hang it for 4 weeks. My name is down for some of the next order.

The milk itself tasted really nice. Creamy but still with a 'clean' and fresh taste. Takes a bit more work to create my micro-foam for my coffee though than 'normal' milk.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 11 4:12 am Post subject:
Ah, yes, I think I know the supplier you are talking about. As a general rule raw milk producers have to be so much better than your average dairy farm as they have to be or the milk won't keep long enough to sell, unless they really are trying cash in on it, in which case it's unlikely they'll be registered.

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 11 7:41 am Post subject:
Jersey beef is very good hanging for 4weeks though? Hope it's got a good fat covering and I'm wondering what they'd feed a jersey to get it that fat

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 11 5:27 am Post subject:
Maybe they're just producing "instant jerky"?

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Tue May 24, 11 8:51 pm Post subject:
Today we visited Wheelbirks for some raw Jersey milk - if anyone is in the Northumberland area they are well worth a visit for raw milk, cream and ice cream. We've even smuggled some across the border into Scotland.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sun May 29, 11 3:39 pm Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

We've even smuggled some across the border into Scotland.

And it's still going after all this time out of the fridge!

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35057
Location: Devon

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 11 11:01 pm Post subject:
We had raw milk from the super-market while we were in France. It was very good! First time BW has ever tried it - once he had it was the what we had to get!

rachelk

Joined: 25 Aug 2011
Posts: 99
Location: thrapston gardening foraging or preserving in the kitchen or eating of course

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 10:27 pm Post subject:
anyone sell it it the northants cambs area! I used to get fresh goats milk, for my imaginary dog but can't any more.

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