Borough Market Diaries: The Truth About Raw Milk

“I just think it’s better milk,” says Steve Hook, owner of Borough Market’s Hook and Son stall, describing the unpasteurised milk he produces at a small dairy farm on the edge of the Pevensey Levels in Sussex.

Steve argues that his raw milk has a richness and depth of flavour far removed from the usual pasteurised, homogenised product – a reflection of the natural diet eaten by his single herd of grass-fed cows. “We’ve always drunk raw milk from our farm, although the thought of selling it didn’t occur to me until the price we were being offered for pasteurised milk fell so low you just couldn’t make a living,” he says.

The problem with selling raw milk is that, for historical reasons, it is one of the country’s most arduously regulated foodstuffs. Over the years, his decision to do so has resulted in surprise inspections, legal battles and even undercover officers filming his retail sites.

Pasteurisation – sterilising by heating – was made mandatory in the UK in 1924, when a significant proportion of commercially produced milk had become too risky to drink. The problem was two-fold: milk from dairy herds infected with tuberculosis or brucellosis could pass the diseases on to people, with devastating consequences, and bad practice and poor hygiene during milk storage and transport allowed the development of other dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter. But while pasteurisation has undoubtedly saved many lives, it destroys much of the milk’s flavour, and kills all the good bacteria too.

Raw milk can, Steve insists, be a safe and nutritious product. “The problems are caused by poor farming practises and bad milk handling processes, both of which are solvable without pasteurisation,” he explains.

“Our herd, for example, was established in 1959 and has always been clear of tuberculosis and brucellosis. They are milked in extremely hygienic environments using advanced milking equipment that is kept sterile. We also pay fantastic attention to hygiene throughout our milking and milk handling processes. This means we easily pass the stringent plant inspections and bacteriological tests regularly conducted by the Food Standards Agency. In this way, our milk retains all the benefits of the good bacteria, without the risk of encountering the bad.”

Raw milk can only be bought directly from the farmer who produced it, and more and more people are now discovering the joys of doing so. “Our first milk round selling raw milk was 12 litres delivered in my dad’s Volvo estate to local customers. I think on the UK about 300,000 litres of raw milk a year were sold,” Steve says with a smile. “Now there are over 200 farmers selling three million litres a year to the public.”