In a statement, Alf Mizzi and Sons (Marketing) Group referred to the press release issued by MIC with regard to adverts placed by the company. “Anonymity does not come into it at all, since all advertisements placed by us, except vacancy adverts, do not carry our company name,” the company said. “We have nothing to hide, however, and hereby declare the provenance.”

Alf Mizzi and Sons said the reason for the advert is the recent TV Malta Dairy Products (MDP) commercial on Benna which, while singing the praises of fresh milk, sought to denigrate, “most unfairly”, the quality of UHT long-life milk, by stating that “nothing can compare with the taste of fresh milk... because it reaches us only a few hours after milking, unlike other milk which has been packed for who knows how long.”

This is unfair, Alf Mizzi and Sons (Marketing) Group said, because it is in the very nature of UHT milk to have an extended shelf-life.

This in fact is the very source of its popularity, as it can be stored for long and need not be purchased on a daily basis. The UHT process, which does not involve the use of preservatives, in no way affects the quality of milk and its nutritional value and it cannot therefore in any way be considered to be inferior to fresh milk, the company said.

Although permissible, it is not the normal practice in Malta for adverts to knock competing products, it added. In the circumstances, “we considered it rather audacious for MDP to do so, especially so unfairly, in the light of negotiations between Malta and the EU. For this reason, we chose to quote verbatim (albeit selectively for reasons of conciseness, but in no way intending to mislead, as pointed out below) from the MIC Info Notes on the outcome of negotiations.”

The company said it did so without adding any comments of its own whatsoever.

It added that Malta secured various concessions and derogations for locally manufactured milk, including:

(a) that the amount of milk fat in standard milk (Benna only distinguishes between milk and skimmed milk, whereas international practice is to distinguish between whole or full cream, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk) can for five years be of 2.5 per cent min., ie below the EU standard for whole milk;

(b) that Maltese milk can be marketed in Malta but cannot be exported to EU countries, the implication being that it is not up to EU standards;

(c) that Malta can allow a stocking density of its livestock which is far higher than that permissible in the EU, which must be brought in line gradually over five years. This raises concerns not only regarding animal welfare but also regarding hygiene and illness prevention;

(d) that Malta can control the disease known as mastitis in its herds for a six-year period, the implication being that it can use antibiotics or other medicines to do so; and

(e) that Malta Dairy Products can accept milk for processing which does not comply with EU rules and that comes from farms which do not comply with EU rules.

The company feels that these concessions do not place local milk in very good light and that, rather than slighting imported UHT milk for not being fresh, MDP should recognise that while such milk is compliant with EU rules, Maltese milk need not be. Indeed, it is rather alarming that the EU has allowed sub-standard milk to be sold in Malta but not to be sold in other EU countries, the company said.

MIC accused the advertisers of UHT milk of selectively omitting to mention that the EU emphasised the crucial importance that dairy farms and milk processing establishments comply with EU rules to guarantee food safety.

“Maybe they can enlighten us as to how this should be interpreted in the context of the statements in the same paragraph that:

(i) The EU agreed to a six year transition period... to allow the upgrading and restructuring of farms and to allow for the control of mastitis in the herds in order to meet the EU hygiene and quality requirements.

(ii) The EU also accepted that milk establishments in Malta can accept milk for further processing which does not comply with EU rules and that comes from farms which do not comply with EU rules”, the company added.

Alf Mizzi & Sons has been selling imported milk under the Frisian Flag brand since 1925, until recently only as evaporated milk in cans but now also in UHT cartons.

In both cases the quality has always been of the highest standards.

The company therefore strongly rebutted any unjustified negative aspersions from sources whose milk is exempt from compliance with various EU standards, as highlighted above.

“It is not our intention to comment on the quality of Benna’s milk, but we felt it rather rich of them to use a TV commercial to

criticise imported EU-compliant milk when they sought so many concessions and

derogations from the same regulations themselves.

“We therefore hope that this TV commercial is altered and (we) reserve the right to take all necessary steps to safeguard our interests and those of our suppliers,” the company concluded.