The current focus of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is cheese. They are discussing whether they should allow soft cheeses to be produced from raw milk. Cheesemakers, chefs and foodie are very excited about this advancement in food safety.
The food safety authorities have been hesitant in passing this law because of numerous cases of listeria. With the responsibility to protect public health, they have to have a conservative approach to this topic. However, with so many submissions, the FSANZ have begun considering the issue of raw milk in cheese more seriously.
What difference will raw milk make to cheese?
Pasteurised milk is a process where the milk is heated to kill various bacteria found in raw milk, like listeria, e coli and salmonella. However, it also kills the good bacteria that are used to drive the flavour of various soft cheese varieties. The lack of flavour has made it difficult for our local cheesemakers to make it big on the global market. However, with this discussion, cheese connoisseurs might be able to enjoy European flavoured cheese made by Aussies! If all goes well on the FSANZ end, Australians might see locally made raw milk made cheese served on a platter by early 2015!
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