How Safe Is Raw Milk?
UK - Health agencies warn that unpasteurised milk can be dangerous to drink, but a growing number of people swear by it. Hugh Wilson reports
22 November 2007
2 minute read
On the edge of the beautiful but fragile Pevensey Levels nature reserve in East Sussex, Longleys Farm is a model of sustainable, small-scale agriculture. The farm is fully organic and teems with wildlife: a recent RSPB survey found 45 species of native birds on the farm, including eight whose numbers have declined nationally by more than 50% in recent years. But Steve Hook, who runs Longleys with his father, Phil, believes the farm's environmental credentials go further than that. Longleys is one of around 120 farms across the country that produce "raw", unpasteurised milk. Long-held safety concerns over pathogens found in unpasteurised milk mean that it is banned in Scotland, and banned from shops and supermarkets in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. But producers such as the Hooks can sell directly to local consumers through farm shops, farmers' markets and deliveries.
"Eleven months ago, we started out bottling one pint a week," says Hook. "Now we sell 1,200 pints a week and the figure is growing, with nothing but word of mouth. We deliver to nearly 300 homes in Hailsham. It's obvious that some people want to drink raw milk." Customers fall into two categories, he says. There are older people who remember drinking milk before pasteurisation and are drawn to its full and complex flavour. And then there are increasing numbers of younger people and families who are turning to raw milk as part of a shift towards unprocessed foods.
Holly Paige has been buying raw milk from a local farm in Totnes, Devon, for three years, and feeds it to her two young children. She is aware of the official warnings, but believes raw milk confers health benefits that its pasteurised equivalent can't match. "First of all, it tastes gorgeous, far better than 'normal' milk," she says. "I also think that pasteurisation turns what is a very healthy, nutritious product into one that the body finds hard to deal with. I've been giving raw milk to my kids for three years without any adverse effects. Provided the milk is produced in hygienic circumstances I'm fine with that. And I know the farm that supplies our milk well."
