Foot and mouth disease has not yet upset milk supply in the UK, said the Dairy Council yesterday.

Only milk produced on directly affected farms is to be dumped, while production and distribution from farms in the exclusion zones around these sites are now subject to emergency hygiene controls. Tankers driven by hauliers in waterproofed clothing are disinfected at the farm gate after each collection in an effort to prevent infection spreading between farms.

The Council insisted conventional heat treatment rendered milk perfectly safe. In a statement, it said: