Dairy Processors Support Government Actions to Ban the Sale of Raw Milk

OTTAWA, April 12 /CNW Telbec/ - Dairy processors support government actions that maintain prohibitions on the sale of raw milk anywhere in Canada.

Recent incidents in Ontario and B.C. have forced provincial and local health authorities to take legal steps to protect the public. According to the Dairy Processors of Canada / Association des Transformateurs Laitiers du Canada (DPAC/ATLC) human consumption of raw milk was one of the major sources of food-borne illnesses and a cause of infant mortality before pasteurization became widely utilized.

DPAC/ATLC welcomes the actions taken by the Ontario Government to appeal a January Court of Justice ruling and last month the Fraser Valley Health Authority's permanent injunction to stop the selling of raw milk in British Columbia. The case in Ontario involves a farmer's distribution of raw milk and cheese products. In Chilliwack, B.C. authorities acted to stop Home on the Range from selling its unpasteurized milk, claiming the small dairy is "willingly causing a health hazard."

Unpasteurized milk poses a significant food safety hazard and according to Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadians should not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk. (See Health Canada media advisory August 2009 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2009/2009_135-eng.php)

Because of these health concerns, the Food and Drug Regulations require that all milk available for sale in Canada be pasteurized. Pasteurization kills the organisms that cause disease while keeping the nutritional properties of milk intact. Raw milk has not been treated to make it safe. Pasteurized milk is an important food and contains many nutrients essential for good health, including protein, calcium and added vitamin D.

Dairy processors urge all Canadians to avoid the serious risk of illness from drinking raw milk.

For further information: Dairy Processors Association of Canada/Association des Transformateurs Latiers du Canada (DPAC/ATLC), Tel: [phone], [email protected]