Is raw milk dangerous?

Raw milk

Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurised. Pasteurisation of milk is a heat treatment (or equivalent) process designed to kill disease-causing microorganisms that can be present in raw milk.

Raw milk can be contaminated by a host of disease-causing organisms including Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter jejuni and pathogenic E. coli.

Raw milk has been responsible for multiple foodborne illness outbreaks both in Australia and overseas and is particularly dangerous for children, the elderly, and people who are immunocompromised or pregnant.

Australia has strict food safety standards to protect consumers from risks associated with consumption of raw milk which require milk to be pasteurised.

In Victoria it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption.

Raw milk cheese

It is legal to produce certain types of raw milk cheese in Victoria subject to strict conditions and approval from DFSV. The requirements for raw milk cheese production are provided in Standard 4.2.4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Sale of raw milk not for human consumption

Milk not for human consumption may only be sold to a person who holds a DFSV licence or be treated in a DFSV approved manner to deter human consumption. This includes raw milk intended for use as stockfeed which may be rendered unsuitable for human consumption by being contained and labelled in a manner that clearly identifies it as stockfeed.

For further information on the risks of consumption of raw milk see the FSANZ website.