Dairy company to sell unpasteurized milk legally in Australia for first time

Australians will be legally allowed to purchase unpasteurized milk for the first time from Thursday after a dairy company implemented a world-first technique for killing bacteria in milk.

Made By Cow, an Australian start-up company, has used high pressure processing (HPP) to kill harmful bacteria in milk usually removed from dairy through pasteurization.

It is illegal to sell "raw milk" for consumption in Australia as the health risks associated are deemed too great. But Saxon Joyce, Made By Cow's founder, said his product is a balance between the benefits associated with raw milk, while also upholding Australia's stringent health standards.

"It's not raw milk, but it's the closest thing to it," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday.

"We believe this is the first time in the world that high pressure processing (HPP) has been used for commercial milk."

"This process allows people to enjoy the natural, tasty and nutritious goodness of raw milk, without resorting to the use of heat pasteurization or homogenization."

The HPP process is commonly used in the production of nutrient-rich juices, such as those advertised as "cold-pressed", but experts are skeptical over the actual health benefits compared to pasteurized milk.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) food microbiologist Narelle Fegan told the ABC "there was no evidence that the health benefits of milk are substantially compromised by pasteurization".

But Jo Davey, director of Dairy Food Safety Victoria and a leading food scientist, said any benefits went beyond nutrition, as HPP treated milk has a much longer shelf life than traditionally processed dairy.

"This pressure kills harmful bacteria, but research has shown HPP is less damaging than traditional heat pasteurization to nutrients such as vitamins and to the small molecules responsible for flavour and color," Davey said.

"Another benefit of HPP is that it can extend the shelf life of milk, because it is treated in its packaging, rather than before, there is less chance of spoiling contaminants entering the milk." Endit