Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Liquid Milk Market: Discussion with Strathroy Dairy
4:00 pm
Mr. Cormac Cunningham:
Yes, as long as one could show that the two streams had not been mixed. The Deputy may laugh, but we have gone to considerable lengths. Our processing plant must be able to produce different types of milk, for example, organic milk. We all have opinions on organics, but anyone producing organic milk must be able to certify 100% that it has not been mixed with or contaminated by conventional milk. The same applies to goat's milk. If one produces semi-skimmed milk, one must ensure that semi-skimmed goes into the semi-skimmed jar, not whole milk. The separation of whole milk, semi-skimmed and skimmed is easy. It costs a great deal of money, but we have done that. We have been audited to show that organic or Republic of Ireland milk can be traced right through our plant from the start to when it is put on a lorry and delivered. It is not that we do not want to make an investment or cannot do it. We have the facilities to segregate milk if that is what people want, but that is not enough. Unfortunately, this does not answer the question.
No comments