A decision on whether to permit wider sales of raw drinking milk has been delayed by the Food Standards Agency pending further research.

The FSA board decided yesterday (23 July) to maintain current regulations regarding the sale of raw drinking milk (RDM), despite the watchdog this month publishing the findings of a public consultation that suggested there were grounds for “a modest liberalisation of sales” and a modernisation of controls on how it was sold.

RDM can currently be purchased at the farmgate, through milk rounds, farmers’ markets, in farmhouse catering operations and on the internet in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is banned outright in Scotland.

While the report cited strong support from consumers for a continued, wider and controlled access to RDM, FSA board members expressed concerns over the methodology of the FSA consultation and called for further evidence gathering, particularly concerning the risk to consumers from specific pathogens found in unpasteurised milk.

One of the proposals for a liberalisation in the supply of raw milk highlighted the potential to sell it through shop-based vending machines.

However, FSA board member Jeff Halliwell warned of the “need for a lot of consumer study” before making it available through this channel.

“I’m concerned with the direction of travel towards liberalisation. There is no evidence we need to change anything,” he said, adding there was currently a “good balance between availability and risk”.

Ram Gidoomal warned that any liberalisation in supply, to a sector that already had “low barriers to entry”, could see levels of consumption of RDM “rise significantly”. He questioned the durability of testing structures to allow extended sales while maintaining consumer protection.

Concern over the wider availability of RDM were echoed by Jim Wildgoose, who commented on the lack of scientific evidence available on the effect of RDM consumption and warned that “an absence of illness [from RDM consumption] does not mean an absence of risk”.

The board concluded that a final decision should not be made until the European Food Safety Authority had delivered the findings of its own review of the risks from raw milk, which is expected in December.

FSA policy head Steve Wearne said it would now consider the board’s conclusions in more detail and agree a timeframe for delivering the additional work it requested.

Topics