RAW milk devotees have staged a protest "drink in" against the addition of a bitter additive being added under new state government legislation to prevent people from drinking it.
In Australia it is illegal under the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code to sell unpasteurised cows milk for human consumption.
Dairy farmers selling raw milk for human consumption risk $60,000 fines and suspension of licences for breaking these laws, which have been in place in Victoria for decades.
Despite the risk of fines, there is a community of people dedicated to raw milk as a healthy alternative to the pasteurised variety.
"Pasteurised milk kills all of the nutrients, enzymes and [beneficial] bacteria. It's like the difference between breast milk and formula," said Rebecca Freer, one of the organisers of the raw milk movement.
On Saturday, fans of raw milk, which is available at some health food stores and markets, gathered outside the office of Consumer Affairs Minister Jane Garrett.
From Sunday, raw milk, which can only be marketed as bath milk or for cosmetic purposes, will include an additive similar to that added to products that discourage nail biting.
"Despite the fact it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption, clearly people were drinking raw milk and people continue to say that they will drink raw milk," Ms Garrett told reporters later on Saturday.
"We're making this call on public health grounds. I'm deeply concerned, and I think the community is deeply concerned, about children and vulnerable people like elderly people and pregnant women either deliberately or accidentally consuming raw milk that's in containers like drinkable milk and falling very, very ill."
The chief health officer has reviewed cases of children being hospitalised after drinking raw milk, including one case presently before the coroner of a three-year-old child who died on the Mornington Peninsula in December.
Ms Garrett relied on the evidence before the coroner, as well as advice from health professionals and the CSIRO in making the decision to include the additive from February 1.
People attending the protest said they felt the decision was rushed and would prefer the government regulate the industry, as is the case in other countries.
Nutritionist and journalist Arabella Forge is an advocate of drinking raw milk.
"New Zealand has recently relaxed their laws in terms of farm gate sales. Throughout the UK they have what's called a 'green top' system, where raw milk intended for human consumption is sold with a green cap. Almost 10 million Americans are consuming raw milk," Ms Forge said.
Reg Matthews is an organic dairy farmer from Lakes Entrance selling raw milk who says 70 per cent of his business will disappear overnight.
"At the moment we've probably suffered losses of $30,000 to $40,000," he said. "It will drive the business underground where quality can't be controlled."
Hobby farmer Tyrone Brown has been selling raw bath milk for eight years without any problems and is advocating for regulation instead of the ban.
"It's very strange that consumer choice can be taken away like this when there's so many other products out there in the market that are more dangerous and still available", he said, pointing to salad greens, oysters, raw fish, meat and eggs.
"They're all healthy food if they're handled correctly," he said.
