Recent controls in Austria have found Campylobacter in raw milk, Salmonella in chicken, and Hepatitis E in raw pork liver.
Earlier this year, a campaign checked raw milk from vending machines for germs and residues of cleaning agents.
The Austria Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) said that raw milk could contain pathogens despite hygiene measures during milking. The advice is to boil it before drinking. For products sold directly to consumers via vending machines or in the farm shop, the note: “Raw milk, boil before consumption” must be present.
Sixty samples from across Austria were examined and 23 were rejected. Overall, 21 did not comply because the total bacterial count was too high. One sample was contaminated with Campylobacter. Two samples were non-compliant because of a lack of information on the vending machine about boiling the product.
Raw milk from vending machines had been examined for microbiological quality in two previous campaigns in 2017 and 2020. In these actions, milk from 112 different farms was checked. Samples from 40 companies were non-compliant, including five firms on two occasions.
FoodWorld 