Several milk samples collected to check adulteration: KMC Team

Kolkata: The food safety wing of Kolkata Municipal Corporation has collected around a dozen milk samples to check whether there is any adulteration. The samples were collected from a number of leading sweet meat shops a few days ago.

"The samples will be sent to our food safety laboratory for examination. The analyst's report on the quality is expected within a fortnight," a senior official from KMC's food safety wing said. A source informed that the informal samples were collected from Borough VI . 

It may be mentioned that a few days before Durga Puja while food safety officers were undertaking a drive at the restaurants in Park Street area, Member Mayor-in-Council (Health) Atin Ghosh had instructed his officers to collect samples of milk after he had received complaints regarding packaged milk of a few brands. "If we find any irregularity in the samples collected, we will go for formal sample collection," a food safety officer said. 

Pankaj Banerjee breathes his last at 71 It may be mentioned that in the recent past there have been reports of adulteration of milk from some parts of the country, particularly from north India. Detergents and other contaminants like urea, starch, glucose and formalin are also being used as adulterants because they provide thickness and preserve the milk for longer periods. 

"More than six billion people consume milk and milk products across the world. It is our duty to ensure that the quality of milk is not compromised," a food safety officer said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had recently issued an advisory to the Government of India stating that if adulteration of milk and milk products is not checked immediately, 87 percent of citizens would be suffering from serious diseases like cancer by the year 2025. 

A senior official of the food safety wing informed that during the food drive in the festive season the officers found restaurants and shops are using ingredients as per norms of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for preparation of food. 

"From October 9 to 15, from Mahalaya to Sasthi, we have collected food samples from 2 seven-star category restaurants and 31 noted restaurants in the city. From October 16 to 25, the days within which Durga Puja was celebrated, we collected food samples from 137 renowned restaurants and milk samples from 13 sweetmeat shops. Only in two of these restaurants, we found the bread crumbs of inferior quality," the official said. 

"Our food drive in the festive season is a clear indication that those in food business have become conscious regarding food safety rules. This is a result of our sustained drive for the last few years," Ghosh said.