By BEN CAMERON
UNPASTURISED milk consumed by a toddler who died recently was produced on a dairy farm just outside the Cardinia Shire.
The three-year-old from the Mornington Peninsula died in the past month after drinking Mountain View Organic Bath Milk, produced on a 300-acre, family-owned and operated property in Hallora.
Mountain View has since recalled its bath milk which is described on its website as “lush milk that is second to none”.
“We have chosen to voluntarily recall our Mountain View Bath Milk, this is to give us time to discuss with the health department in regards to reviewing the labelling.
“We are happy to review the labels together with the Health Department.”
Mountain View owner Vicki Jones said she was shocked to hear the news.
She said her product had been tested by several laboratories recently for E. coli and salmonella.
“I would advise people to read the label clearly,” she said.
“We got a letter recently from the Health Department, it (the bath milk) was all clear.
“We also test the product ourselves.”
She said her product had been in about a dozen shops throughout the Melbourne area.
Ms Jones told the Gazette in a recent On The Land article her business was born out of a determination to make her farms chemical-free
She said when milk prices plummeted around the time of the Global Financial Crisis, she came across a “herd share concept” in America.
“I thought great, this is a loophole – we can sell a lot of milk,” she said.
“So we actually went to a lawyer to draw up this herd share idea.
“He said we’d better talk to Dairy Food Safe and he got in touch with them and said his client wanted to do a herd share where the people own part of the cow and can actually drink the milk and they said: ‘No way in hell. We don’t even want the farmers to drink the milk … but if you label it as bath milk and put not for human consumption, yeah no worries, you can go ahead’.”
Department of Health Chief Health Officer Dr Rosemary Lester issued a warning about the dangers of drinking raw cow’s milk, following five cases of gastroenteritis illness in children who had drank unpasteurised milk.
“All five cases drank unpasteurised milk which was sold as ‘bath’ or ‘cosmetic’ milk,” she said.
“Unpasteurised milk is labelled and sold for cosmetic use only, but the packaging is often very similar to other milk products.”
