A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry June 1997
Contents: Food poisoning and the regulatory response | Cutting boards - is plastic better than wood? | Hygiene monitoring by ATP luminometry | AQIS Director defends food inspection system | Cheese from unpasteurised milk banned | Oysters and Hepatitis A | Farmers seek compensation over chemical residue in meat | Australian Smallgoods Food Safety Guidelines
Cheese from unpasteurised milk banned
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) has rejected an application from the Australian Specialist Cheesemakers' Association to market cheese from milk that has not been pasteurised or subjected to another adequate form of heat treatment.
The Authority rejected the application because
- raw milk cheeses may be contaminated with human pathogens
- consumers would not associate a significant public health risk with a freely available product such as cheese.
- a food poisoning incident would adversely affect the greater dairy food market and adversely affect the reputation for safety of Australian and New Zealand cheese exports.
The prohibition of the manufacture of cheese from raw milk is consistent with advice offered by The Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) in the United Kingdom in its recently released Position Statement Food safety and cheese. The statement draws attention to the potential hazards to human health due to pathogenic bacteria in raw milk. It recommends that safe production of cheeses, particularly of the soft and semi-soft types, includes the use of pasteurised milk.
Food Science Australia
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