Formally prohibited under the 2007 Dairy Industry Regulations, but approximately 95% of the national milk supply is sold through informal channels without processing. Maasai and other pastoralist communities consume and sell raw milk as a dietary and cultural staple.
Tanzania's dairy sector is governed by the Dairy Industry Act, 2004 (No. 8 of 2004) and the Dairy Industry (Registration) Regulations 2007, which state that "the distribution and sale of any milk for human consumption is forbidden unless the milk has been pasteurized or sterilized." This is an explicit statutory prohibition on raw milk consumer sales, administered by the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) and the Tanzania Dairy Board.
In practice, approximately 95% of Tanzania's national milk supply is sold through informal channels without pasteurization or sterilization. Licensed heat-treatment establishments process only a small fraction of total national milk output. The Maasai and other pastoralist communities, who account for a significant share of Tanzania's milk production, consume raw milk as a dietary and cultural staple, and enforcement of the formal prohibition in these communities is logistically and politically implausible. Academic research documents that governance in Tanzania's informal milk markets functions through trader norms and reputational mechanisms rather than state enforcement. The scale and cultural depth of raw milk consumption means the statutory prohibition has had minimal practical effect.
Official government documents and legal resources for Tanzania
Tanzanian legislation governing the dairy industry. The 2007 implementing regulations issued under this Act explicitly prohibit the sale of milk for human consumption unless pasteurized or sterilized.
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