OTTAWA – A few loopholes appear to be emerging to bring compromise to the pungent debate over raw-milk cheeses.
Dairy farmers and the federal government were ready last week to find alternatives to a controversial proposed ban on the sale or import of cheeses made from unpasteurized milk.
These raw-milk cheeses range from the soft, ripened richness of oka, camembert and brie to the sensuous-in-the-mouth blue roquefort. They are imported from Europe or made in Canada, principally in Quebec.
Both Claude Rivard, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, and David Dingwall, federal health minister, said new consultations should produce ways to keep the cheeses coming while protecting consumer health.
Read Also
Final crop reports show strong yields, quality
Crops yielded above average across the Prairies this year, and quality is generally average to above-average.
Both said some new form of labeling pointing out the alleged dangers, might be one solution. Another might be the new manufacturing process of microfiltration, which is said to eliminate bacteria better than pasteurization.
Talk of a ban caused an uproar, especially in Quebec, when Health Canada on March 30 published proposed amendments to food and drug regulations.
The ban proposal, actually agreed to by producers and processors of all provinces in 1990, was because Health Canada sees a health hazard in cheeses made from milk that is not pasteurized (heated to a point that kills bacteria.)
Dairy farmers supported the ban, Rivard told a Senate committee meeting, “based on evidence demonstrating that a health risk existed from the contamination of products by pathogenic bacteria like salmonella, brucella and campylobacter.”
However, since the tempest blew up and since Health Canada has not produced evidence of the degree of hazard, and since no one has died in Canada and few have been ill from raw milk for decades, Dairy Farmers of Canada is seeking new light on the health risks involved, he said.
A meeting this week of outside researchers, producers and processors from across Canada is to assess the risk and find solutions that would keep the raw milk cheese business in Canada with minimal risk to consumers.
“I am sure we can find solutions that will make our consumers feel more secure and our processors will be able to replace the imports,” Rivard said. “That is the objective.”
Health minister Dingwall said new consultations with raw milk cheese producers, manufacturers and importers were to begin last week and continue to June 13.
