In the autumn of 2017, the Ministry of Health and Care Services commissioned the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to prepare a draft regulation that allows a limited sale of raw milk and raw cream for consumption.
The proposed change in the regulations was that the farm or farms can sell up to 5000 liters of raw milk or raw cream per year if certain conditions are met, such as satisfactory hygiene, unbroken cold chain, warning marking and that the turnover was from the farm or farm.
The draft regulation was out for consultation . The Norwegian Food Safety Authority carried out a compilation of the consultation statements which were submitted to the Ministry of Health and Care Services. In its decision not to change the regulations, the Ministry of Health and Care Services has, among other things, emphasized the warnings from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. All three agencies opposed liberalization in the consultation statement, out of consideration for the risk of infection and the risk of serious illness.
-From a public health perspective, restrictive regulations will be the most important risk-reducing measure to avoid illness in connection with the consumption of raw milk. This is ensured, among other things, through heat treatment of all raw milk and a ban on turnover, says senior adviser Margrethe Hovda Røed in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
