FOOD AGENCY PROPOSES TO ALLOW CONTINUED IMPORT OF RAW MILK VERY HARD CHEESES
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today invited public comment on a proposal to allow the continued importation and domestic production of very hard cheeses, such as grana padano and parmigiano reggiano, made from unpasteurised milk.
FSANZ Managing Director Ian Lindenmayer said the agency was proposing a change to the new Food Standards Code, which comes into effect on 20 December 2002. The provision would apply only to Australia and would not apply to soft and semi-soft raw milk cheeses, such as roquefort.
'Cheese sold in Australia and New Zealand must be made, with some limited exceptions, from pasteurised milk. Alternatively the milk must be thermised (a less severe heat treatment than pasteurisation) and the cheese matured for at least 90 days,' Mr Lindenmayer said.
'This requirement in the Food Standards Code offers protection to consumers from the risk of microbiological pathogens such as Salmonella.
'The proposal under consideration would allow the importation and sale of very hard grating cheeses made from unpasteurised milk, using a specific process. Our safety assessment has found that, with good hygienic and manufacturing processes, these cheeses can be made safely.'
'These cheeses have been imported and sold safely in Australia since 1994. However, as a result of technical changes to the new Code, without this assessment these cheeses could no longer be sold in Australia.
Mr Lindenmayer said FSANZ had now conducted a risk assessment of raw milk very hard cheeses and had released a Draft Assessment Report for public comment on its website.
FSANZ is proposing that raw milk very hard cheeses with a moisture content of less than 36 per cent, after being stored at a temperature of no less than 10 degrees celsius for a period of no less than six months from the date of manufacture, should be allowed to be sold in Australia.
Further information: The Draft Assessment Report for the safety assessment of raw milk very hard cheeses (P263 ) and a fact sheet are at www.foodstandards.gov.au .