DAIRY workers in East Lancashire have poured scorn on Government proposals to ban unpasteurised milk.

They claim Agriculture Secretary Jack Cunningham should ban cigarettes if he wants to protect the nation's health. And rural Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans, has accused the Government of 'Big Brother politics' and warned that the ban could force some cheese manufacturers out of business.

Farming chiefs have said it is just another knock in the confidence of their industry.

The Government wants to ban the raw milk because it sours quickly and has been linked in the past with tuberculosis.

But the MP said health fears surrounding the 'green top' milk were "entirely devoid of any scientific evidence."

"Pasteurisation is irrelevant to consumer health in an age when tuberculosis has been largely eradicated. It has been proven that raw milk can boost the body's immune system and it is widely acknowledged that it contains higher levels of vitamins and minerals than treated milk. "This proposal is just the start of a slippery slope that will lead to the banning of a range of healthy cheeses and will further hit the farming industry.

"It is a ludicrous infringement of the right to choose and smacks of Big Brother politics."

Dairyman Bryan Jackson, proprietor of the Primrose Dairy in Railway View Road, Clitheroe, invited the Agriculture Secretary to ban smoking instead.

"It's down to freedom of choice. If people want to drink unpasteurised milk, let them. Cigarettes and cars are more dangerous. I think the ban is a bad move," he said.

Simonstone dairyman Alan Pickering, who delivers untreated milk to houses in the surrounding villages, said: "I have drunk raw milk all my life without incident and the Government should leave it alone.".

A spokesman for the National Farmers' Union said the risk of illness from drinking untreated milk was very clearly pointed out on bottles.

"It is for the consumer to decide whether to drink the milk or not. This proposed ban is just another knock to the confidence of an industry that has received knock after knock recently," she said.

The Government has put the proposed ban on hold for further research into the alleged health risks.

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