A South Australian farming couple faces a fine after being found to have breached food standards by selling raw milk.

Mark and Helen Tyler operated a scheme whereby people bought shares in a cow and then consumed their own, unpasteurised milk.

Prosecutors argued that this still constituted the sale of milk under the Food Act, and a magistrate agreed. On Tuesday the pair was found to have contravened the food standards code.Sales of raw milk are illegal in South Australia because of health concerns.

The death of a three-year-old Victorian boy last year was linked to the consumption of raw milk which had been sold as bath milk.



The Greens say they will try to overturn the SA ban and described Tuesday’s ruling as a blow to consumers who enjoy less processed products.



“There is a clear demand for unpasteurised milk and milk products in the community and the Greens urge the government to ditch the nanny state approach in favour of sensible regulations,” Greens MP Mark Parnell said.



Instead of prosecuting the Tylers the government should have worked to bring the raw milk industry within the regulatory framework.



But the health minister, Jack Snelling, welcomed the magistrate’s ruling and said the Tylers were clearly seeking a way around the law.



“I just echo the advice from medical experts around Australia that drinking unpasteurised milk can be very, very dangerous,” Snelling said.