Other Countries
In an attempt to help consumers find locally produced Real Milk, we have compiled the following list describing the potential availability and legal situation on a country-by-country basis. We cannot vouch for the accuracy of the following list. If you have corrections or additions, please email them to . See the "Where" section for a listing of dairies by state and country.
| Africa |
Americas |
Asia
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Australia
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Europe |
Africa
In Zimbabwe, unpasteurised, fermented soft cheese (curds) called mukaka wakakora are sold through a roadside farmstand/shop on a main road going to Harare. This soft cheese is amazingly popular with the indigenous Africans, who credit the cheese with reversing serious illnesses that are rampant in the area. Some high government officials have had substantial health improvements from daily use of this product, and consider it crucial for improving and maintaining their health and the health of their families. See http://www.magumbos.com/
Americas
Canada
Federal law prohibits the sale or giving away of any raw milk, and in many provincial laws reinforce this (in Ontario, farmers may be fined $250,000 and sentenced to three years in jail). Challenges to these laws are now underway. And in spite of onerous penalties, Michael and Dorothea Schmidt of Glencolton Farm provide milk to cow-share holders in Toronto.
Gordon Watson is trying to get something going in British Columbia. He can be contacted at . James McLaren is presently working to change pasteurization in Ontario. See his website at www.naturalmilk.org.
Information in French on raw milk is available at www.bonlait.com.
Canadian Blog about Raw Milk: http://www.thebovine.wordpress.com
| Update 24 AUG 2005 Update August 2007 |
Nicaragua
We received the following message by email from Christain Masis in Nicaragua ( ). "We have a small dairy farm and use the milk to make a product which is very popular in our county and the Nicaraguan community loves it. We have been selling this product for about 12 years. . . We make it from raw milk by adding a small amount of culture. . . We call it lecheagria, which means sour milk. People say that it is very healthy for diabetics, for liver disease, for almost for every thing. . .We are having the problem that the owners of the grocery sores where we sell the product are asking us for labels on the containers, because the USDA inspectors ask them for a label in order to not make them throw the product into the garbage. It seems that the inspectors know that it is made from raw milk. We are thinking of pasteurizing the milk but the customers say that if we do it, they are going to stop buying the products, because it is going to lose the properties it has. What can we do? This is what we do for a living." We have advised them to get their customers to protest, or to organize some kind of direct sale program.
Asia
Japan
A source in Japan sends this update:
Raw milk (non-pasteurized milk) situation in Japan should be interesting. As far as I know, it does not look as good as US, although I'm not aware of any pasteurization law. From my limited grocery shopping experience in Japan, more than 90% of the milk sold in retail is "ultra-pasteurized" (120°C or 130°C for 2 sec) and regular "pasteurized" milk (usually 65°C for 30 min) is sold as healthier alternatives. I don't think low-fat milk is very popular (could be changing though) and people look at "fat content" of the milk as a quality factor, although I remember powdered skim milk commonly given to infants.
I actually searched on the Internet for raw milk in Japan and found one dairy farm in Hokkaido selling raw milk, claiming to be "the only dairy farm" selling raw milk in Japan after going through several years of paper work with health department. It seems that, in spite of rave reviews from happy customers, they have gone through difficult times, possibly because of media exposure for their "unique" milk. Their milk is also available through several online stores and I got the impression that their milk is a special product made only possible with special care, implying that raw milk is usually not possible for direct consumption.
I found other cases of people getting raw milk directly from farm in discussion boards, online diary etc. but it seems common that dairy farmer recommends "boiling" first to kill off bacteria. I also found that "non-homogenized milk" is gaining popularity, often coupled with "pasteurized" (as opposed to "ultra-pasteurized") process to make it more appealing to the health conscious.
Australia/Micronesia
Australia
National standards allow for a state to permit the sale of raw milk for human consumption, and South Australia allows sales within the framework of a regulatory regime. Regulations in Queensland and New South Wales allow for the sale of raw goat's milk but not raw cow's milk. In Queensland, raw cow's milk is available in health food stores as Cleopatra's Bath Milk, and cow share programs are underway in Queensland and other states.
Mr. Bruce Bell, a lawyer in Queensland, Australia who is defending a dairy farmer selling raw milk as pet food, has provided us with the following report:
Briefly, only one state in Australia (South Australia) currently has a regulatory regime permitting sale of unpasteurized milk for human consumption. In the state of Queensland, one can legally sell goats milk only, unpasteurized. It would only take a regulation change to widen that to include bovine milk and the national standards allow for a state to permit unpasteurized supply if the state wishes to, but the big processors and public assumptions about the myths of pasteurization being true create strong opposition. We can only conjecture about how much influence big money may have in the harassment my client has endured and the legal absurdities the court has laid claim to as detailed below. (I am, by the way, a long term civil libertarian and a commercial consultant completing a law degree this year, and aware of the nutritional deficits of the quasi foods the transnational corporations find it convenient to market.)
When our dairy industry was recently "de-regulated," the big processors stopped paying farmers 59 cents a liter, instead paying 30 cents (less a levy to subsidize the impact of many going broke). My client started marketing his Jersey milk (4.8 percent butterfat when the minimum is 3.3 percent) directly to health food stores as "Pet's Milk." A great many nutritionally aware people started buying it in large quantities and the cash flow reached a level that would allow saving this third generation family dairy farm.
Our state "Queensland Dairy Authority" then tried to entrap the farmer for supplying unpasteurized milk for human consumption but failed. They sent a "plant," an inspector posing as a new health shop proprietor, to the farm and he was given some milk as a sample. He secretly tape recorded my farmer client saying pasteurization was bad for food values for people as well as animals. Then, on the basis that the milk laws here define "sell" as "including giving away as a promotion," they charged him with "selling" his clearly labeled pet milk for human consumption in an unpasteurized state.
Their cooked up "evidence" was inadmissible in court, so after they made him spend thousands on lawyers, they withdrew their action the day of the court hearing, at which time they agreed to sign a deed committing them to not harassing him any further, an agreement the Authority later refused to sign and reneged on when they thought their legislation enabled them to "condemn" any milk product as "not fit for human consumption," including, it seems, casein-based glue. We pointed this out to the supreme court as an example of the kind of absurdity requiring a court to not interpret the law that way. A proper interpretation of the law would have it that such powers can only be used in relation to milk "intended for sale for human consumption."
Acting as zealots in protecting the poor gullible public from inadvertently drinking "dangerous" pet food, even when it is clearly labeled and none of their (legitimate) business, inspectors are now intimidating retailers. They are calling on the health food stores selling (our) "Pet's Organic Fresh Milk" product. Although it is labeled"not for human consumption—animal food only" and there is no control under law here of (non meat) pet food, inspectors are buying retail samples of our milk when it is close to its 12-day-old recommended "Use By Date," getting it tested and then, on their return visit to the retailer, reporting the product fails the lawful standards, is unsafe or even "dangerous" and it is implied the retailers may get fined or worse for selling it.
The national testing standard applicable to human consumption of milk which they are using bluntly states "Retail samples may not be used." The testing regime for unpasteurized milk (where states allow that to be sold for people) provides that only fresh milk, taken from the dairy may be used and the testing must be done on a "reasonable" basis. So, apart from the fact it is an inapplicable test, they are using prohibited methodology. Only one-day-old milk may be tested at the processors under this test but they regard testing ten-day-old unpasteurized milk for bacterial levels as "reasonable," it seems. They do not, of course, engage in testing retail samples of processed milk (which normally has a Use-By Date of up to 20 days), to compare.
The inspectors calling on the retailers are also telling them the Pet's Milk product caused a cryptosporidium outbreak (5 cases) in people in the local area last year which they characterize as an epidemic, and therefore dangerous to people. There is no evidence to support that claim whatever. We investigated and found it was one illogical parent (all cases were siblings exposed to pets and other vectors of infection) who assumed it was the milk despite the fact that, from a batch of over 1000 liters supplied to shops on any one day, no one else contracted the disease from the milk, meaning it clearly was not the vector of infection. That, however, did not stop the Health Department putting out a press release almost saying it was. One resultant news article opened with the words "Dangerous milk" (is responsible, etc.) which dropped sales volume by two thirds. Litigation in regard to that defamation is under consideration.
We thought the health department's files might contain data showing no science behind the press release, so we requested the files under Freedom of Information. As a ferocious impediment to disclosure, recent FOI amendments now allow for collection of very high fees, payable in advance for disclosure. We were told we had to pay $1,100 to get the documents which would take 49 chargeable hours to locate and collate. Their legal officer admitted to me (and I later swore an affidavit verifying) that she had already collated the documents in 8 hours. They did, however, have to admit in their letter advising of the prospective charges that they held 524 pages of documents on a dairy farmer with whom they had never had dealings.
Instead of paying, we commenced an action in the state Supreme Court for Judicial Review and injunctions against the Dairy Authority and subpoenaed the Health Department documents. They tried to refuse to comply, but under pressure from us, delivered to the court 292 pages of documents which they said were (all of) "the same documents" as requested under FOI. They also claimed legal privilege over 37 of those pages. We were ready to draw to the court's attention that 524 pages and 292 pages of "the same documents" cannot add up but our action was dismissed at a Directions hearing.
Despite clear case law showing various valid claims in our case and illegitimate testing producing a nullity as a result, the particular judge found that a written threat to condemn my client's milk in the hands of his retailers if he was still selling it by December 4th, was not a "decision" which the court could review, because it was not a decision of a "substantial nature affecting my client's interests." To dismiss our application, the court also had to find that the testing methods used by the Dairy Authority (described above) were perfectly valid, so the judge did find that to be so. Interestingly, in their evidence, the Dairy Authority stated that their campaign was motivated by complaints from three named large milk processors that our product was placed alongside theirs in the shops and selling too well for their liking.
We are considering all options presently, except giving up. One thing we will do in any event is set up a farmer-consumer direct supply arrangement (cow-share) and network to create a pure food lobby. The state food standards are under review this year. The meat and dairy authorities are being combined into one and we suspect pet foods may be heavily regulated under the new standards if we don't lobby hard.
| Update 27 AUGUST 2008 A member from Australia tells us herdshare is progressing well, but there will be certain states (ie Victoria) where it will be difficult / if not impossible to implement. They are working at alternatives in those areas and there are various listings on the site www.realmilkaustralia.com, with appropriate people to contact.
Update 16 June (Action Alert) If you're a farmer who wants to manage a herd, a consumer of real
milk who wants to establish a local supply and support your farmers
or even if you're looking for a part time job, sharing the milk
with As soon as enough people in your region are assembled and a farmer and sharer has been employed, you're ready to go. To keep farmers on the land, connect consumers with farms &
support Tell your friends to sign up, especially if they're farmers. Let's establish a consumer base so large government has no choice but to certify real milk. And let's do it now! UPDATE 27 APRIL 03 (from Sally Fallon) In Brisbane, Farmer Pat McCarthy has set up a successful cow share program. His milk, cream and beautiful yellow butter can be obtained at the weekly Brisbane farmers market. A Real Milk Alliance in Queensland is working with lawyer Ron Sinclair to make changes to existing regulations to allow the sale of raw cows milk in health food stores, similar to existing sales of raw goats milk. If you would like to get involved, contact Don MacFarlane at (07) 5467-1411 or . Check out the website http://www.angelfire.com/folk/realmilkalliance. While in Queensland, I was updated on the activities of a dairy in Goomboorian. They had been selling raw milk from their Jersey herd as "pet milk" in local health food stores. When the health department told them to desist, they came up with a better idea. They now sell Cleopatra's Bath Milk as a "Cosmetic Skin Treatment." The label states: "As it is presently unlawful in Queensland to supply pure, unprocessed dairy products as food, it is important your body is able to absorb the vitamins and enzymes only available in raw milk, this can be done by bathing in it. Please tell your member of Parliament what you think." Sales of Cleopatra's Bath Milk are brisk! |
New Zealand
In New Zealand, it is legal to sell raw milk direct from the farm to an individual, for their own personal and family use. However, there is a lot of confusion about this, and some people do not know it is legal.
NZ has some different dairy health issues than the US -- in NZ almost all cows are pasture-fed, however, most conventional NZ farms use super-phosphates and other harmful chemicals on the grass, causing myriad health problems to the cows (as well as to the farmers). The chemicals lead to mineral and nutritional deficiencies in the cows, as well as parasite problems and other sicknesses, which are then treated with toxic chemical dips, drenches, antibiotics, etc. The nutritional deficiencies of the soil are directly reflected in the same deficiencies in the milk. That is why it is very important to buy your raw milk from a farm that uses natural, organic farming methods (whether certified or not) and also uses natural soil enrichment. There is a growing trend in NZ, especially in Southland, to return to traditional, natural, non-toxic methods.
In Auckland area, contact Huckleberry Farms Natural Foods Store for info about raw goat milk. If you are interested in a cow share program, contact our new local chapter Alison Ellett at (09) 420-8548 or
Wellington - Organic dairy farm sells direct to consumers raw milk from pasture-fed Jerseys. A group is now forming to help educate the public and lawmakers on the benefits and safety of raw milk and to alter the NZ laws to allow raw milk sales. Contact Susan Galea or Cedric Backhouse , Website: http://realmilk.co.nz/.
Europe
Europe--General
On-farm and some retail sales of raw milk are permitted in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Denmark and Sweden. (Some stores in Belgium and Norway sell frozen mare's milk.) However, farmers who sell raw milk must pass much more stringent inspections than those who sell their milk for pasteurizing. In Russia, raw milk is available in the countryside but in Moscow, the only source is a monastery near Moscow.
| UPDATE Winter 2007 |
Sweden
| UPDATE Winter 2008 A letter from a reader in Sweden: It is possible to obtain raw milk in Sweden, as it is legal
to buy direct from the farm. We buy our milk from a nearby farmer
who produces organic milk. Unfortunately, he has Holstein cows,
even if the farmer has thought about crossing them with Jersey cows.
Also, Sweden is rather cold in the winter, so the cows are indoors
several months in a row (they do get excercise once a week), and
are fed grains along with hay (I think some of the hay is fermented).
I think that they are grazing outdoors for at least six months though,
so we are satisfied. The milk tastes great and has done wonders
for my eldest as she completely stopped having ear infections and
runny nose as soon as we made the transition to raw milk. We also
make our own whole milk butter milk (filmjölk), but we are
a bit too lazy to separate the cream.
|
Germany
One of our German translators, Helmut Rein, obtained two publication from the Federal Ministry, provided by Herr Rolf Meyer, Referat 423, Rochusstrasse 1, 53123 Bonn. E-mail: poststelle@bmvel.bund.de.
The first, called "Bundesministerium für Verbraucherschutz, Ernaehrung und Landwirtschaft," says that raw milk is available directly from some producers/farmers, and officially it is called "ab-Hof-Abgabe" (something like "sales by farmer"). It means that any farmer is allowed to drink its own milk as raw milk, and to sell it directly to any final user if he wishes. There is also a way of marketing raw milk through the commerce, and then it is called "Vorzugsmilch" (something like "preference milk").
The second, a leaflet called "Milch und Milcherzeugnisse" issued by "Auswertungs- und Informationsdienst für Ernaehrung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten (aid) e.V." offers the following explanations on page 14:
"Rohmilch ist weder erhitzt noch molkereimaessig bearbeitet. Sie darf wegen der eventuell vorhandenen krankheitserregenden Mikroorganismen nur unter besonderen Bedingungen direkt vom Erzeuger auf seinem Hof als "Milch-ab-Hof" abgegeben werden. An der Abgabestelle muss der Hinweis angebracht sein: "Rohmilch, vor dem Verzehr abkochen".
And: "Vorzugsmilch ist eine amtlich besonders ueberwachte Milchsorte , die in ihrer natuerlichen Beschaffenheit mit unveraendertem Fettgehalt roh (nicht erhitzt) in den Verkehr gebracht wird. Deshalb sind die Anforderungen an den Gesundheitszustand der Kuehe, an die laufende Hygiene-Ueberpruefung und an die Beschaffenheit der Milch, an Behandlung, Verpackung und Befoerderung besonders streng. Der Geundheitszustand des Personals wird ebenfalls ueberwacht".
And after that, an extensive explanation follows regarding health risks when drinking raw milk because of possible EHEC-infections (Enterohaemorragisches Escherichia-Coli-Bakterium) and how to avoid these risks by heating the milk for at least 10 minutes at 68 degrees Centigrade.
This makes clear why it is difficult to find farmers who sell raw milk to end users. They are much more supervised than others who pass all their milk to the professional processors who take care of hygiene questions in their industrial plants.
Update 02 MAR 04 Update 02 APRIL 07 |
India
There are distributors of raw milk in almost every town and village in
India. Some consumers will buy only raw (fresh milk). The distributors
go by the trade name of gwala or Bhaiiyyas or Doodhwalla (milkman). The
dairy farm where the cows and buffalo are reared for milk are called tabelas.
In a city like mumbai which is crowded, one will find tabelas in various
localities. The bhaiiyys bring the raw milk (possibly with varying degrees
of dilution) in steel or aluminum cans and ladle it out with long-stemmed
ladles. Normally the raw milk would be boiled and then consumed. In its
raw form it would be used for religious purposes as offerings. For more
information check out National Dairy Development Board http://www.nddb.org/aboutnddb.html
or Institute of dairy Science at karnal.
Italy
Update, Summer 2006: Update 03 FEB 2006 "Since June 2005, there have been a couple of Provincial Breeder Association and other Dairy Equipment Manufacturers that started offering raw milk automatic dispenser equipment to dairy farmers. Farmers can locate the dispenser in or outside the farm, filled with their raw milk. This seems to be a new way of offering milk directly to consumers. To date, January 2006, about 200 dispensers are located all over Italy and consumer response is enthusiastic. As Italy is a bureaucratic land, you must work hard to get all the licenses and permissions:
If you still have the nerve, go and sell your milk! I have been running two dispensers for a couple of months and the most interesting aspect is that roughly 15-20% of consumers have serious problems with 'industrial' milk, claiming colitis, dairy intolerance, or stomach pain...and when they start to drink RAW MILK, most of the time their problems disappear! The economics of pasteurized commercial milk vs. raw direct milk:
*Grande Distribuzione Organizzata In other words, farmers get €0,39 per liter for their milk destined for pasteurization and the grocery store, but get €1,00 per liter for their raw milk sold direct to consumers. Producers are going out of business in Italy, but nobody seems to care. This could be a way to keep business, but is not the final solution for every farmer. Personally, I am trying to keep my business and my cows through Raw Milk Direct Sale. Come and visit me at www.biola.it!" Updated 17 FEB 05 From a source in Sicily: The kinds of milk usually available at stores in Italy are:
The latter two represent the best that you can find on the market. One common characteristic to all the mentioned milks is homogenization, in order to make it "more digestible." As far as raw milk is concerned, there is a confusing state: from one side, the DPR an°54/1997, acceptance of the European Community regulation Dir.1992/46/CEE, regulates the milk and dairy products trades, stating that the sale of raw milk is restricted to the farm, directly from the farmer to the final consumer: "...E' vitiate limousine al con sumo did late crud salvo chez vena vend dilettante deal proctored al consummate nell tessa aided Arcola did production.." Nevertheless, there are cases of producers who sell through a distribution network (even if limited: they sell to the stores, which sell to the end consumers). A northern Italy producer advertises its milk on the web (so it seems that even advertising is not forbidden), citing that same 1997 law to remark its hygienic characteristics. In my experience, in Sicily, which is where I live, to find raw milk is possible through a web of contacts, and if you are sort of introduced by somebody trustworthy (that is the way I found my supplier). Probably the trade and sale could not be so difficult if there were a stronger request from the consumers, consequence of its benefits being put into the due light from the media. There seems to exist the fear of contaminations from the milk: even the farmer where I get mine, the first time we met, advised me to boil, or at least heat it at 70 °C, probably to disclaim of any responsibility, even though their cows have a cell count less than one third of the imposed limit. Successively he admitted of using it warmed at no more than 40°C for his own and family use. Update Summer 2009: In Italy, in the past three
years, Latte Crudo machines have sprung up all over the country
and now raw milk makes up 10% of the entire nation's milk |
Netherlands
At least four farms have installed raw milk "vending machines"
whereby customers can tap their fresh milk directly from the bulk tanks.
Milk sells at €0,60 per liter. This is presented as a sort of milk
drive-in where people can self serve and the busy farmer does not have
to spend a lot of time with the customer. These machines are becoming
common in health conscious countries like Switzerland and Austria and
the manufacturer says there are many requests for information. See www.brunimat.ch.
In addition, all supermarkets sell raw milk cheeses and I have been informed
that the
reformhaus (all) sells raw milk of cow, sheep & goat.
Finland
As of 1997, it is legal in Finland to sell unpasteurized milk from farms to a customer who him/herself comes to buy it from there.
United Kingdom
Summary on the current legality of raw milk and cream sales in the UK.
Update Summer 2009: The farmers’ markets are a
relatively new phenomenon in the UK. The loophole which enables raw milk
sales there because markets are direct and not secondary sales, means
it is easier to find unpasteurised milk at
London Bridge than in the heart of Herefordshire!
Great Britain
A Campaign for Real Milk in England has successfully fought off government attempts to ban all sales of raw milk. The Dairy Products Hygiene Regulations of 1995 state of raw milk: ". . . an occupier of a registered production holding may sell such milk at or from the farm premises where the animals from which the milk has been obtained are maintained, to: (a) the ultimate consumer for consumption other than at those farm premises; (b) a temporary guest or visitor to those farm premises as or as part of a meal or refreshment; or (c) a distributor.
A distributor may sell such milk: (a) in the containers in which he receives the milk with the fastenings of the containers unbroken; (b) from a vehicle which is lawfully used as shop premises; and (c) direct to the ultimate consumer."
Some 200 producers sell raw milk direct to consumers in England. In England and Wales, raw or "green top" milk is only allowed to be sold from designated farms. Most counties have only a small handful of such farms but there is a hot spot in Yorkshire. For further information contact Richard Copus at . The Royal family has consumed raw milk for 500 years.
Scotland
A concerned citizen is working to develop a campaign to relegalise raw
milk in Scotland: http://rawmilkscotland.webs.com/
Wales
In the spring of 2002, Welsh officials proposed a ban on the sale of raw milk. However, after considerable pressure, officials announced that sales of raw milk and cream would continue, with a voluntary change in the labeling.
Update Spring 2002 UPDATE 05 JUNE 03 The review, recommended by the Agency's Advisory Committee for Wales (ACW), included public consultation on whether sales of unpasteurized milk and cream should continue as they are, continue with better labeling, or whether the products should be banned altogether on health grounds. The ACW believed more specific warnings struck the most appropriate balance by helping the consumer to make an informed choice about consuming raw milk or cream. The Food Standards Agency Wales will be contacting producers to gauge their reaction to a voluntary change to labeling |
A Campaign for Real Milk is a project of The
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