It is an offence to place raw milk or cream on the market for direct consumption in Scotland – this also includes distribution.
The ban in Scotland was introduced back in 1983 after 12 people died from related food poisoning.
The ban includes sheep, goats, buffalo and any other species farmed for its milk.
Raw drinking milk and cream has historically been recognised as a high risk to public health as it was linked to a high number of food poisoning outbreaks, mainly Salmonella, Campylobacter and E.Coli O157 infection.
Packaged milk is UHT-treated which means that it has been heated to a specified temperature and time to kill pathogens that may be found in the raw milk.
With UHT treatment, the heat-resistant bacteria present in milk gets destroyed which also ensures its safety for you and your kids. The milk is processed at above 135 °C (275 °F) to eradicate all the unhealthy microorganisms. The average time of milk to undergo the UHT process is about 2 to 5 seconds.
Sterilization makes milk lighter as once you have treated milk at ambient temperature, the number of microorganisms turn almost zero. The time you take to process it further is also reduced as the impurities and non-friendly organisms are already eliminated
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