There are growing concerns over the long-term availability of unpasteurised milk as the bovine TB crisis worsens.
Several of the UK's biggest unpasteurised cheese producers were forced to use pasteurised milk in their products for the first time last year as they awaited TB lab test results.
Somerset-based unpasteurised farmhouse Cheddar specialist Keen's had to use pasteurised milk for a six-week period after a cow tested positive for TB, said owner Stephen Keen. Lab tests later proved negative but it left the company with cheese it has not yet been able to sell.
In late 2006, the EU changed its TB regulations so any cow twice testing inconclusive to skin tests had to be submitted to gamma interferon tests. Producers are required to use pasteurised milk in the interim to ensure TB cannot enter the food chain.
But the gamma interferon tests had led to a number of "false positives", according to Westcombe Dairy owner Richard Calver. Westcombe had a two-week period last year when it was forced to alternate production among its three herds and use pasteurised milk following a skin test.
Producers favoured unpasteurised milk as it allowed more complex flavours to be produced, said Calver, but he added the industry was concerned about future availability of unpasteurised milk.
"The gamma interferon test continues to cause huge disruption to our unpasteurised cheesemakers," added Specialist Cheesemakers Association chairman Randolf Hodgson.
Producers using unpasteurised milk were coming under increasing pressure, said another source. "We're fighting a losing battle on TB and as incidences increase it could particularly affect availability of unpasteurised milk."
The TB problem continued to cause havoc for dairy farmers, said Gwyn Jones, NFU Dairy Board chairman. Some 65,000 cattle would be slaughtered this year, he claimed, up from 40,000 last year.
Several of the UK's biggest unpasteurised cheese producers were forced to use pasteurised milk in their products for the first time last year as they awaited TB lab test results.
Somerset-based unpasteurised farmhouse Cheddar specialist Keen's had to use pasteurised milk for a six-week period after a cow tested positive for TB, said owner Stephen Keen. Lab tests later proved negative but it left the company with cheese it has not yet been able to sell.
In late 2006, the EU changed its TB regulations so any cow twice testing inconclusive to skin tests had to be submitted to gamma interferon tests. Producers are required to use pasteurised milk in the interim to ensure TB cannot enter the food chain.
But the gamma interferon tests had led to a number of "false positives", according to Westcombe Dairy owner Richard Calver. Westcombe had a two-week period last year when it was forced to alternate production among its three herds and use pasteurised milk following a skin test.
Producers favoured unpasteurised milk as it allowed more complex flavours to be produced, said Calver, but he added the industry was concerned about future availability of unpasteurised milk.
"The gamma interferon test continues to cause huge disruption to our unpasteurised cheesemakers," added Specialist Cheesemakers Association chairman Randolf Hodgson.
Producers using unpasteurised milk were coming under increasing pressure, said another source. "We're fighting a losing battle on TB and as incidences increase it could particularly affect availability of unpasteurised milk."
The TB problem continued to cause havoc for dairy farmers, said Gwyn Jones, NFU Dairy Board chairman. Some 65,000 cattle would be slaughtered this year, he claimed, up from 40,000 last year.
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