Jan 11, 2012

Delhi High court takes note of milk adulteration reports

NEW DELHI,(GGS NEWS) 11 Jan 2012 :- News of 70% milk samples from the city failing quality tests also rocked Delhi Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday. The BJP-led Opposition demanded an explanation from the government soon after the House assembled for business on the second day of the winter session. Speaker Yoganand Shastri asked health minister AK Walia to investigate and crackdown on adulterators.

Making a statement to quell the panic, the minister said milk sold in Delhi was safe and the samples had failed the quality survey as the packaging did not state that skimmed milk powder had been added. Walia said harmful substances such as detergents and urea were not found in the Delhi samples.

The minister has called a meeting between cooperatives like Mother Dairy and Delhi Milk Scheme, and senior officials from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India – the organization that carried out the national survey – to discuss packaging standards, on Wednesday. “We will go into the depth of the matter to prevent any kind of violation,” Walia said, adding that sampling by government agencies will be intensified. Further, the government’s laboratory will be modernized for quicker testing.

Quoting the FSSAI study, the health minister told the House that 71 samples from Delhi were analysed, of which 50 were found fit “though non-conforming to standards due to the fact that the labels on pouches had no declaration in respect of presence of skimmed milk powder”.
“As per the report, none of the samples was found containing any harmful adulterant like neutralizers, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, starch, glucose, urea, salt, detergent, formalin and vegetable fat,” a statement issued by the state government later in the day emphasised.

Walia said the government was taking all necessary steps to check adulteration in milk. “Samples of milk are regularly taken and analysed for all possible adulterants. In the last three years, 458 samples were analyzed, of which 70 were found adulterated or sub-standard because of deficiency of fat and solids-not-fat. But none of the samples was found containing any harmful adulterant,” he said.

As per Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, double toned, toned, standardized and full cream milk cannot be standardized for fat and solids by mixing skimmed milk powder.

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