Jan 14, 2012

Maharashtra to launch mobile vans to check milk adulteration

Two days after the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) found 65 per cent of milk in Maharashtra adulterated, the state government has decided to launch 15 mobile vans by April to check the adulteration. The Dairy Development Department has estimated a cost of Rs.100 crore for the mobile vans project.
"We have prepared a proposal in this regard for sanctioning of the state cabinet. We expect the provision of fund for this project will be made in the state's budget to be presented in second week of March," an official, requesting anonymity, from the department told India Today on Friday.
The FSSAI has made it mandatory for the milk manufacturers to test the milk for harmful bacteria such as E Coli, staphaureus and listeria mococytogenes before bringing it into the market. The agency has specified standards for 10 types of milk that include buffalo, cow, goat or sheep, mixed, standardised, re-combined, toned, skimmed and full cream milk.
However, the government official admitted that it is not possible to stop the adulteration as the system to check the wrong practices in this industry is not foolproof. "Even if we set up laboratories at the taluka levels it is not possible to take samples of each and every can of milk the producer deposits at the dairies. We can only book the adulterators and punish them severely," he said.
In Maharashtra, seven districts like Pune, Nashik, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar are known as the milk hub. Around 2.5 lakh litre milk is procured in the state everyday through 30,714 primary cooperative milk societies, 77 Taluka milk unions and 29 district milk unions. The data with the department shows only 35 people were booked for adulteration till 2009-10 across the state. The state government wrote to the Centre in March last year seeking a new law to make milk adulteration a crime punishable with death penalty. The Centre has not given its nod yet.

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