Raw Milk

What is raw milk?

Any milk sold in Australia needs to be pasteurised, according to Australian food law. “Raw” milk is any type of milk that hasn’t been pasteurised. Being a natural product, unpasteurised milk is more likely to be at risk of getting contaminated with bacterial pathogens (bacteria that can cause disease).

New technologies to treat milk are being explored by the dairy industry. Pasteurisation, while usually involving heat, can also be achieved in other ways, for example, high pressure cold processing. High pressure cold pasteurisation has been approved by the NSW Food Authority - and product is being sold.