Raw milk

[Bruce Almighty]

anyone on here selling raw milk ( or know someone who is ?)

We have a milk round using milk bottled on another farm & are building / installing pasteuriser to use our own cows milk, but it's a slow job. I wondered if we could get going quicker selling raw ? We passed our annual TB test yesterday

 

[Deereone]

You could try contacting:

PGT Hook & Son
Longleys Farm
Harebeating Lane
Hailsham
East Sussex
BN27 1ER

 

[Courier]

Raw milk is considered a niche product nowadays and were you to try and introduce it to your existing customers you would have to give them the choice of raw or pasteurised or risk losing custom.

If there is any other milk round in the area (or an EHO with a bee in their bonnet) expect vexatious misinformation to be peddled. How would you cope if you had a TB reactor ?

You and I both know the benefits ( and possible disadvanteges) of raw but it can be an uphill struggle which will not exist when your produce is pasteurised.

In days gone by in the Kirklees area on farm producer/processors were (alledgedly) encouraged by the local EHO to fill green top bottles with on farm pasteurised milk as very few customers could actually tell the difference. Many customers do however find a world of difference between big dairy pasteurised and on-farm pasteurised milks.

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Thanks for replies

Yes we would continue to supply the existing pasteurised, our round is rural. However we are close to a town with a large Asian population & potentially a large demand. Our EHO doesn't have any other raw sellers in her district. I am aware that a reactor would stop everything, but I hope it may get us selling milk from our cows quicker. We have our white rooms nearly ready but are still trying to find an automated bottle filler & a bottle washer and our pasteuriser & separator aren't fitted yet

 

[cattow]

Search Mease Valley Milk on facebook

 

[kiwi pom]

Raw milk is considered a niche product nowadays and were you to try and introduce it to your existing customers you would have to give them the choice of raw or pasteurised or risk losing custom.

If there is any other milk round in the area (or an EHO with a bee in their bonnet) expect vexatious misinformation to be peddled. How would you cope if you had a TB reactor ?

You and I both know the benefits ( and possible disadvanteges) of raw but it can be an uphill struggle which will not exist when your produce is pasteurised.

In days gone by in the Kirklees area on farm producer/processors were (alledgedly) encouraged by the local EHO to fill green top bottles with on farm pasteurised milk as very few customers could actually tell the difference. Many customers do however find a world of difference between big dairy pasteurised and on-farm pasteurised milks.

You make it sound like TB is the only risk in selling raw milk?
What are the advantages of raw milk as I am unaware of any?
I could perhaps understand customers telling the difference between homogenised and non homogenised milk, or perhaps milk that's bottled straight from the tank instead of being standardised, protein levels etc but how does pasteurising change the taste.
Not having a go just curious as all the science I've read suggest the only difference is that one is significantly more dangerous than the other.

 

[Exfarmer]

There is a huge difference in taste between raw and pasteurised milk, absolutely chalk and cheese.
Raw milk is sweet compared took me years to get used to pasteurised.
However i would be very loathe to sell raw milk in todays world, make sure your insurance is top notch

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Search Mease Valley Milk on facebook

Yes, I have bought Bulls from Steve in the past

 

[Bruce Almighty]

You make it sound like TB is the only risk in selling raw milk?
What are the advantages of raw milk as I am unaware of any?
I could perhaps understand customers telling the difference between homogenised and non homogenised milk, or perhaps milk that's bottled straight from the tank instead of being standardised, protein levels etc but how does pasteurising change the taste.
Not having a go just curious as all the science I've read suggest the only difference is that one is significantly more dangerous than the other.

But why is raw milk dangerous ? Other than if your cows are sick ?
as long as you keep it in the fridge it's fine, never done us any harm & we've drunk it all our lives
Cows are much healthier & cleaner now than say 30 years ago

 

[Courier]

Raw milk, as it leaves the cow, is virtually sterile. Campylobacter, Salomonella, E. coli etc are contaminants AFTER it leaves the cow and can be present in both raw and heat treated milk.

Whole milk pasteurised on the farm is pasteurised in it's natural state whereas ALL milk whch enters a "Big" dairy is separated and then re-assembled to the required fat content.

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/articles/case_for_untreated_milk.shtml

 

[Courier]

but how does pasteurising change the taste.
.

It is probably not the pasteurising which alters the taste but the multiple movements by pump and vacuum

Milk does not improve by being "knocked about".

 

[upnortheast]

When we started we were delighted to find no difference in the taste of the milk after it went through the plant.
How the big boys bugger up the taste is mystery to me.
Had some rubbish in a hotel in Shropshire last week, bizarely the milk in Lanzarotte the week before was very good
EHOs get very twitchy if you talk about selling raw milk.

 

[Pasty]

We live in a world where natural products are now considered dangerous until they have gone through 'a process'. Is that wise? No, that's f**king stupid. We know how to keep natural products safe. We just can't be bothered and people don't want to pay for it. Darwin might have a view on this.

 

[kiwi pom]

Pasteurizing milk makes it safer to drink I don't think anyone would argue with that.
I believe it kills salmonella, campylobacter and listeria.
It also prevents TB, Brucellosis, and scarlet fever, I'm sure there is more.
Doctors for example recommend pregnant women and young children don't consume unpasteurized dairy products.
I have nothing against raw milk I used to drink it when I milked cows and enjoyed it, I cannot say "it did me no harm" because I have no idea if any illness I got whilst drinking it was unrelated.
The thing about raw milk that I don't like is the fact that those that sell it often seem to suggest that it is some how better and healthier for you, and of course charge a premium. I don't believe this to be true.
@Courier posted a link on the subject. The report is from The association of unpasteurised milk producers and consumers, published by The soil association. Perhaps not the most balanced of reports.

 

[kiwi pom]

anyone on here selling raw milk ( or know someone who is ?)

We have a milk round using milk bottled on another farm & are building / installing pasteuriser to use our own cows milk, but it's a slow job. I wondered if we could get going quicker selling raw ? We passed our annual TB test yesterday

I wonder if you could install one of those milk vending machines on farm like the raw milk ones, just put the milk through the pasteuriser first.
It would depend on your area, but collecting milk straight from the farm could be a nice point of difference, customers knowing exactly where the milk comes from etc.
If someone did get for example, salmonella and it was suggested the raw milk came from your farm, even if it was later proved otherwise it could do a lot of damage to your reputation, word travels fast especially with social media these days.

 

[Courier]

Pasteurizing milk makes it safer to drink I don't think anyone would argue with that.
I believe it kills salmonella, campylobacter and listeria.
It also prevents TB, Brucellosis, and scarlet fever, I'm sure there is more.
Doctors for example recommend pregnant women and young children don't consume unpasteurized dairy products.
I have nothing against raw milk I used to drink it when I milked cows and enjoyed it, I cannot say "it did me no harm" because I have no idea if any illness I got whilst drinking it was unrelated.
The thing about raw milk that I don't like is the fact that those that sell it often seem to suggest that it is some how better and healthier for you, and of course charge a premium. I don't believe this to be true.
@Courier posted a link on the subject. The report is from The association of unpasteurised milk producers and consumers, published by The soil association. Perhaps not the most balanced of reports.

When I was selling "Green Top" the slogan used by producer / retailers was "Naturally More Nutritious Than When Heat Treated" referring to the fact that at least some of the vitamin content is destroyed by heat treatment.

The original slogan was simply "naturally more nutritious" but Trading Standards at the behest of the EHO took exception to the wording but then had to approve the longer version as it was considered fact.

I was brought up on raw as were my two oldest children, by the time my youngest was born we had installed a pasteuriser. He was the first and only member of my family to develop asthma (pure coincidence of course)

The shelf life of milk is effectively "re-booted" when it is pasteurised and that is primarily why raw can and should only ever be cosidered a "fresh from the farm" product.

 

[Wastexprt]

I've been getting raw milk locally for about 6 months now and I love it. £1/litre but happy to pay for superbly creamy milk that is a world away from the diluted supermarket stuff. According to the dairy man, I'm about his only non-Asian customer

 

[Pasty]

I'd love to buy it but the nearest farm is 20 odd miles away. Keep thinking of getting a house cow but it's a tie.

 

[Chasingmytail]

I'd love to buy it but the nearest farm is 20 odd miles away. Keep thinking of getting a house cow but it's a tie.

I have an organic grain free fed house cow. Its our first year of our own milk and I've never milked a cow in my life. It becomes a routine and not too much of a tie if you have a good system set up and someone who could fill in for you. Its us and the two young children plus the chickens and the cats that have it. I make yogurt (very easy) and tried cheese (we consume a lot of cheese) but not a great start.

Agree the risk isnt really there its when it leaves the animal. You do have to wonder though were people falling over with food poisoning pre pasteurisation? With cows being kept clean, TB test, Lepto tests, parlours bleached and technology is the risk that great?

 

[Chasingmytail]

http://www.the-calf-at-foot-dairy.co.uk/raw-milk-facts.html

http://smilingtreefarm.com/grass-fed-produce/grass-fed-raw-milk/grass-fed-raw-milk