An Edmonton-area farm has had to stop shipping raw milk to its customers following a visit from the head of Cow Share Canada, which promotes unpasteurized milk.
Michael Schmidt visited the Beulah Novelty Food Co-op and found that the operation wasn’t adequately testing animals for disease.
“One of the core standards for Cow Share Canada is that the cows which are brought into an operation need to be protected against things like brucellosis, tuberculosis and leukosis so that we’re sure there’s no disease brought in,” he said.
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Schmidt also found Beulah was failing to test milk it was shipping to customers.
None of the customers became sick, but Schmidt said such testing was “a matter of due diligence.”
Cow sharing is a way for people to circumvent public health laws forbidding the sale of unpasteurized milk. Clients become part owners of a cow by buying shares in it. The law does not forbid people from drinking unpasteurized milk from their own cows.
Cow sharing operations have appeared across the country since an Ontario court upheld the legality of Schmidt’s operation.
Schmidt said he will work with Beulah to get its operation up to his standards.
