Raw milk cheese

All biosecurity requirements must be met before Imported Food Inspection Scheme requirements apply.

Check our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) for biosecurity import conditions.

We classify imported food that presents a potential medium or high risk to public health as risk food. All risk food is listed in the Imported Food Control Order 2019.

Raw milk cheese is classified as risk food

Raw milk cheese is cheese that has not undergone a heat treatment step during production. Heat treatment includes:

• pasteurisation
• thermisation with additional measures
• high temperature curd cook with additional measures.

Only raw milk cheese that is covered by a recognised foreign government certificate can be imported. See current certification arrangements.

Exclusions

Food from New Zealand.

Current certification arrangements

France – Roquefort cheese and Ossau Iraty

You can import raw milk cheeses Roquefort and Ossau Iraty from France into Australia with this certificate.

United Kingdom – 12 kinds of raw milk cheese

You can import these raw milk cheeses from the United Kingdom into Australia with this certificate.

1. Appleby’s Cheshire
2. Appleby’s Double Gloucester
3. Hafod
4. Isle of Mull
5. Keen’s Cheddar
6. Kirkham’s Lancashire
7. Lincolnshire Poacher
8. Montgomery’s Cheddar
9. Sparkenhoe Red Leicester
10. St Andrew’s Anster
11. St Andrew’s Cheddar
12. Westcombe Cheddar

Declaring certificates

When lodging a Full Import Declaration (FID), use the correct ICS document code and certificate number for the food.

See lodging declarations and documentation for imported food.

Inspection and testing

We refer consignments of raw milk cheese for analytical testing at the rate of 5%.

During inspection, we will also conduct a visual and label assessment.

Table 1 shows the tests that will be applied and permitted results.

Table 1, Test applied and permitted result

n = the number of samples to be analysed from a lot of food.
c = the maximum number of sample units that can be greater than ‘m’.
m = the acceptable microbiological level in a sample unit.

Food safety risks

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has given us advice about the risk of raw milk cheese. This food presents a potential medium or high risk to public health for the pathogenic microorganisms:

• Salmonella spp.
• Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli
• Brucella spp.
• Mycobacterium bovis.

To make sure there are food safety controls in place to manage these hazards, imports must be covered by a recognised foreign government certificate. We verify these controls are effective by conducting analytical testing. See current arrangements.

Glossary

Pasteurisation

Milk or dairy products used to make cheese or cheese products are pasteurised by:

• heating to at least 72° C and retaining at this temperature for no less than 15 seconds
• heating, using any other time and temperature combination of equal or greater lethal effect on any pathogenic microorganisms in the milk or dairy product
• using any other process that provides an equal or greater lethal effect on any pathogenic microorganisms.

Thermisation with additional measures

Milk used to make cheese or cheese products has been processed by being held at a temperature of at least 64.5°C for at least 16 seconds. The cheese or cheese product is stored at a temperature of no less than 7°C for at least 90 days from the date of processing.

High temperature curd cook with additional measures

Milk or dairy products used to make cheese or cheese products have been processed so the:

• curd is heated to at least 48°C
• cheese or cheese product has a moisture content of less than 39%, after being stored no less than 10°C for at least 120 days from the date of processing.

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