REMEMBER those early mornings when the milkman had done his rounds and dropped off a bottle of his finest green top on your doorstep?

We aren’t talking about today’s semi-skimmed version.

The creamy milk that was once served straight from the cow is just a distant memory for some, after concerns were raised over the safety of the unpasturised white stuff.

But one Ribble Valley dairy is still keeping the tradition of raw milk alive and well, serving the organic, raw milk in bulk across the country.

Emma’s Organic Dairy, on Lower Gazehill Farm in Rimington is just one of 78 farms in the UK that provides the unpasturised, licensed milk to homes and businesses in East Lancashire and beyond.

According to government warnings, unpasteurised milk is one of the ways to pick up salmonella, campylobacter. E.coli and TB have also been linked to raw milk and the Food Standards Agency don’t recommend it.

But Ian O’Reilley and Emma Robinson, the married couple who run the farm in Rimmington, say that sales are on the up and milk, straight from the cow, is what nature intended.

“Raw milk is good for you. You could survive on it alone. It’s all about having the right amount of bacteria in the milk. The milk contains all the healthy bacteria that we need to maintain a healthy gut and the enzymes are alive making it easier for us to absorb calcium,” said Emma.

The married couple have three children Neve, 10, Isabel, five and Oliver, three, who have all drank the unpasteurised cow’s milk from as young as three months old.

This is a parenting decision that was once made in the majority of East Lancashire homes, with people being brought up on it, and before the 1950s, raw milk was the norm on every breakfast table in the country.

Gazegill Farm has been a family-run farm for about 500 years and Emma, along with her parents Tony and Jean, have always believed that nature is never wrong and farming organically produces healthier food from happier animals within a sound ecological system.

Emma said: “Raw milk is a superfood – it has many health benefits. It has been proven to help people who have eczema and even depression and it’s completely natural. It is a fantastic product and it is becoming more and more popular.”

Because of the popularity of farmers’ markets and organic produce, people from as far as Oxford order the milk from Emma’s Dairy, added Ian.

The cattle are rigorously checked for disease, including TB and Emma said that manufactured ‘friendly bacteria’ drinks are often a waste of money.

“Man-made friendly bacteria drinks can’t be good for you. They are manufactured and not organic. Raw milk is the friendly alternative. Orders are now coming in bulk and people are starting to realise it is a very safe option,” said Ian.

The farmer also said that the milk should only be sold direct by the farm to the end user, if it is coming from anywhere else its not genuine and may not be licensed.