All our milk is piped to the pasteuriser to be gently heat treated at 73°c for 15 seconds to comply with health regulations and to protect you from any bacteria you have not encountered before. The pasteuriser uses heat exchanging plates to warm the incoming milk while cooling the outgoing milk. The effectiveness of the pasteurisation process is checked by measuring the level of an enzyme called phosphatase. Results of less than 500 must be achieved for the milk to be sold. Our system is regularly achieving scores of under 50.

Pasteurisation was made compulsory to stop any risk of TB being passed onto humans by milk from an infected cow. Our herd is regularly checked by the local vets to make sure no cows are developing TB. The whole herd passed their most recent test in July this year. Although badgers can spread TB from farm to farm, they are also aggressively territorial. West Hill Farm has two badger sets protecting us from any wandering sick badgers.