Protesters angry about new laws for raw milk

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About 50 people have rallied in Melbourne to protest against new requirements to add a bittering agent to raw milk.

The Victorian Government introduced the requirement to add a gag-inducing agent to unpasteurised milk amid health concerns.

Raw milk can be sold in Victoria as a cosmetic product, not for human consumption.

The law was introduced after a three-year-old child died last year after drinking Mountain View Farm unpasteurised milk meant for cosmetic purposes.

Four other children became ill after drinking the product.

About 50 people gathered outside the office of Consumer Affairs Minister Jane Garrett and called for the requirement to be overturned.

Members of the Australian Raw Milk Movement maintain unpasteurised milk is safe to drink and spokeswoman Rebecca Freer said it should be regulated, not banned.

“Australia’s only one of two countries where raw milk is actually banned for human consumption,” she said.

“The rest of the world, bar Australia and Canada, have already made a case and made it perfectly safe and regulated and people aren’t dropping like flies.

“But there has to be certain things happening for it to be safe. So if you look at other parts of the world they’re very clear on stipulating that the cows need to be really healthy, the cows are grass-fed, these are not factory-farmed cows.”