Dairy majors claim rigorous quality check of their products

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Days after a government agency came with a study stating 69 per cent of milk distributed in Delhi do not subscribe to the fixed safety norms, dairy majors including Mother Dairy and Amul today asserted they supply milk and dairy products only after rigorous quality check.
Mother Dairy and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which account for a major share of milk and dairy products supplied in Delhi and NCR, asserted they undertake harsh quality checks before despatching their products to market. GCMMF sells milk and dairy products under brand Amul.
The Delhi government had also yesterday claimed that the none of the milk samples checked were found containing any harmful adulterants like detergent or urea.
The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) study claimed that 70 per cent of milk samples picked up from the capital failed to conform to standards.
It had also claimed 50 per cent of the samples were found to be contaminated with glucose and skim milk powder.
According to the FSSAI study, in 33 states and UTs the milk was found adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea besides the age-old practice of diluting with water.
Reacting to the report, Mother Dairy, which has over 1,200 exclusive outlets in Delhi and NCR, said it maintains stringent measures to ensure the quality and purity of the milk provided by the company.
"Each batch of incoming and outgoing milk is subjected to 21 quality tests including presence of foreign matter and bacteriological tests," a Mother Dairy spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Mother Dairy products are process and packed in ISO certified plants and strict controls are exercised.
Mother Dairy also has a unique concept of having a team of qualified and trained personnel operating in field. "This team operating in field also assures that the products manufactured by Mother Dairy are handled properly after it leaves the factory to avoid any type of spoilage of the product," the spokesperson said.
Amul, which has a very large market share in Delhi, said it tests milk at four stages from procurement to despatch.
Its Managing Director R S Sodhi told PTI from Anand in Gujarat that it is not clear from the report whether the samples were taken from branded or unbranded milk.

Alwar leads in supply of spurious milk

ALWAR: Alwar district, one of the leading suppliers of milk to the National Capital Region (NCR), is notorious for rampant adulteration.
With ever-increasing demand for milk in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida, the adulteration business has intensified in various parts of Alwar district. Admitting that synthetic milk business is thriving in the area, Sushil Kumar, a milkman from the region, claimed, "In Alwar and other neighbouring districts of UP, adulteration is quite common. I, too, am engaged in this business and supply 300 litres of spurious milk daily to sweet makers and households."
Barodamev, Ramgarh, Tijara and Kishangarhbas and Laxmangarh are the hub of synthetic milk in Alwar. "Administration is largely responsible for such a kind of situation. Till date, the health department takes action against culprits under the Food Adulteration Act 1954 despite the introduction of the new Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSAI) 2006," Rajesh Krishna Sidh said.
In 2011, the health department collected 900 milk samples in the district in which 147 samples tested positive for adulteration. However, the department has issued challans in only 131 cases while no action has been taken against remaining16 adulators.
"From August 2011, the new law has been implemented but the old law is being adhered to in taking action. But from now onwards, the proceedings will happen as per the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006," Murarilal Sharma, food inspector, said.
"After the survey of FSSAI we will again run a campaign against adulterated milk as 35% of the milk goes to Delhi and NCR".

Mandatory bacteria test for milk for sale from February

NEW DELHI: Come February, milk sold in India will have to be tested for harmful bacteria like E Coli.

According to the new food safety rules that come into effect six months from August, 2011, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for milk manufacturers to test it for organisms such as E Coli, staphaureus and listeria monocytogenes before bringing it into the market.

FSSAI CEO V N Gaur said, "We have introduced for the first time microbiological standards for milk. It was decided on August 5. The regulation will come into force in February since we gave the manufacturers and the industry six months' timeframe to put in place processes to test for deadly micro-organisms like E Coli."

Gaur said, FSSAI officials would also see whether manufacturers have complied with the microbiological standards.

"They will have to conform to prescribed coliform and plate counts. The milk has to be certified E Coli, staphaureus and listeria monocytogenes free," he added.

Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told TOI on Thursday that states will have to increase their surveillance of food items. "States must take the menace of food adulteration seriously. At present, the fight is being hampered due to lack of trained human resources. Inspections must be increased to look for adulteration and use of harmful chemicals, especially in milk, vegetables and fruits commonly consumed by Indians," Azad said.

TOI recently reported how the national milk survey of the FSSAI had found that nearly 70% of the 1, 791 samples picked up from 33 states failed to conform to FSSAI's standards.

Around 89% of the samples tested from Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir (83%), Punjab (81%), Rajasthan (76%), Delhi and Haryana ((70%) and Maharashtra (65%) had failed to pass the muster.

FSSAI said the milk of Mother Dairy and Amul did not conform to the national standards.

Gaur said, "FSSAI has published the results of a nation-wide surveillance survey of milk sold in the market both in packed and loose form, marketed by organized as well as unorganized sector. At the national level, 68.4% of the samples were not found to be conforming to the FSS regulations."

Standards have been specified for 10 types of milk that include buffalo, cow, goat or sheep, mixed, standardized, re-combined, toned, double-toned, skimmed and full cream milk.

FSSAI's milk adulteration report confusing: Delhi govt.

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday called Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) reports as hasty and confusing. In reports FSSAI claimed that capital's 70 percent milk is adulterated. Government said that it will carry its own tests on the samples.

"The FSSAI report on Delhi is confusing and it seems they hastened to draw a conclusion, calling Delhi's milk unsafe," Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia told reporters.

"We need to confirm that whether milk samples taken for survey are actually harmful. We will check those samples of the milk and take stringent action, if something is found wrong," he said.

According to FSSAI, which tested 71 samples from Delhi, 50 contained contaminants varying from glucose to skimmed milk powder which is generally added to milk to enhance volume.

In the wake of report, Walia called a meeting with the capital's milk producers and and the health officials of the government.

Asked whether he warned the milk producers to keep check on the food quality, Walia said: "Out of 70 lakh litres of milk supplied in Delhi per day, producers like Mother Dairy, DMS, and Parag account for 60 percent. We will test the samples taken by FSSAI. If anything is found wrong, we will take action."

Milk shortage ends, flush season dawns

PONDA: With the 'flush season' in milk production commencing on Monday, milk supply to Goa has been restored giving a respite to local consumers.
"As the recent report by Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has clarified that Goa Dairy's milk has no adulteration, the demand for the dairy's milk has increased," said Sadanand Kulkarni, managing director (MD), Goa Dairy.
In the past month, Goa had faced an acute shortage of milk due to a prolonged lean season of milk.
Normally, April to November is a lean season for milk production, while December to March is called flush season. Last year, the lean season continued up to December. It resulted in a shortage of about 6,000 litres of milk on an average per day.
Goa's milk consumption per day is 1.25 lakh litres. But, the dairy was able to procure only 70-75,000 litres per day during the lean season, stated Kulkarni. As the flush season began on Monday, the dairy has been getting a daily supply of 74,000 litres from Maharashtra and 51,000 litres from Goan dairy farmers.
Goa Dairy is the only dairy supplying milk in a large quantity in the state. The dairy strictly follows standards.
"If any adulteration is found, the dairy returns the entire tanker. As a result, the central organization did not find any adulteration in the milk produced in Goa," the managing director said.

JHC issues notice on adulterated milk supply

After the Delhi High Court issued notices to the Government of Delhi on the issue of adulterated milk supply in the National Capital Region, the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday took suo motu  action following reports of adulterated milk being supplied in the State.
The action came in the wake of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) report on milk adulteration across the country.
Taking suo motu action a division bench of Chief Justice PC Tatia and Justice PP Bhatt issued notice to the chief secretary, principal secretary of Animal Husbandry department, secretary of Health department and the manager of Sudha Dairy. The Court has directed to convert the matter into a Public Interest Litigation.
The division bench observed that the adulterated milk being supplied in the State was very harmful for the health of the common man as it is being used for various purposes.
The Jharkhand Government has so far remained silent on the issue of the sale of adulterated milk in the State and is yet to take a serious note on the crucial matter of public health and hygiene.
A National survey of Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) found that all 25 samples collected from Jharkhand failed to meet the standards of milk. Adulterants include fat, solid not fat (SNF), neutralisers, acids, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, starch, glucose, urea, salt detergent and formalin, which prove to be fatal for health.
The State Government is still apathetic to the problem of open sale of adulterated milk in the State. Despite sudden increase in the sale of milk due to the advent of Makarsankrantri festival the Government is not taking any step to stop the sale of adulterated milk .
When asked about the adulteration of milk in the State, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Hemlal Murmu told The Pioneer, "There are no labs for conducting tests for purity of milk and food in the State and we are planning to set up labs to test food and milk for adulteration. Whoever is found guilty will be punished and severe action would be taken against that shopkeeper or milk supplier."
"This is a serious problem and measures are being taken to tackle it. Directions have been given to the officials to look into the matter," he said.
The national survey on milk adulteration in 2011 found almost 69 per cent samples failing the quality test and have found adulteration by water, skimmed milk powder, besides detergents.
The survey conducted by FSSAI to ascertain the quality of milk and find adulteration types, found that all the milk samples taken from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Mizoram failed the quality test. Testing of milk samples from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal also found presence of detergents.

Public views sought on food safety Act

The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) will soon be publishing all the standards stipulated in the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, for public knowledge, and suggestions can be forwarded to the Authority for consideration.

Eight scientific panels, one scientific committee and 120 scientists would process them, said Mr V. Gaur, Chief Executive Officer, FSSA, here recently.

Addressing an awareness meeting on ‘Food Safety and Standards Act', organised by the Madurai District Tiny and Small-Scale Industries Association (Maditssia), Mr Gaur said that the philosophy of the authority is to take stakeholders along. . Tracing the genesis of the Act, culminating ina single uniform Act for the country for the first time, he said that the journey has just started as the law is yet to be implemented and only the structural edifice is being built up. The training programme is on for officials in charge of implementation. . As suggestions are considered, changes would be effected but the course is a time-bound process and amendments to the law haveto be through Parliament, he added.

Earlier, Mr S.P. Jeyaprakasam, President, Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association and Mr K.R. Gnanasambandan, Vice-President, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association, expressed their apprehensions about the law under implementation.