Press conference about National Milk Survey by FSSAI (11th Jan 2012)

CEO, FSSAI Shri V.N. Gaur officially invited leading media persons(both electronic and print) on Wednesday 11th Jan 2012 at FSSAI Head office at 1500 hrs to share about the doubts raised over National Milk Survey report which was released on FSSAI portal.

The conference evoked considerable response from the media persons about the concerns of general public about adulteration and deviations from standards as reported in the National Milk Survey.

The media persons were informed about the mandate of FSSAI under which Surveillance is desirable about food items and accordingly a process was initiated. Such surveys were part of the process of presenting before the nation a “State of Food” report. However the findings could be utilized for strengthening the regulatory process, greater awareness of the consumers and a cautionary signal to the producers.

CEO also touched upon the sub standard milk being sold are “nonconforming” with the standards and every non-conforming sample may not pose health risk as the product would be substandard.

About question raised by media persons on specific brands, CEO clarified that no particular brand was targeted. By and large the milk coming into market has been tested to understand various types of deficiencies or adulterants so that necessary corrective action could be initiated.

The report will sensitize all such milk producer to remain careful while bringing their products in market which if found deviating from standards may invite prosecution by the regulators under States and Central License.

Skimming off your good health

Despite being the world’s largest producer of milk, India struggles with adulteration of milk by unscrupulous traders. A recent study by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India across 33 states has shifted focus on the problem.
There is no proper check system to curb these activitiesThere is only one reason for anti-social elements to get into the business of milk adulteration — to make quick money. They mix other substances, including water, in milk to produce a cheaper alternative. The cost of spurious milk ranges between Rs2 and Rs6 per litre, whereas pure milk costs Rs24 per litre. So, one can get an idea why these anti-social elements indulge in such activities.
Besides, there is no proper check system or strict law to curb these activities. According to the law, mixing anything in milk, even a drop of water, is adulteration. Apart from water, the adulterators use substances like glucose powder, urea, detergent, palmolein oil and sorbitol, to name a few. Some of the chemicals used for adulteration are very toxic, and many of them are carcinogenic, with severe effects on the human body.
—Dr Abhijeet Vaidya, founder-president, Arogya Sena

One can use the RTI to force govt to disclose names of errant dairiesWe are not a part of the ongoing campaign against milk adulteration in the state. We cannot point fingers at anybody without getting the samples tested. Besides, the responsibility to curb such activities lies with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the police.
I think we all have witnessed how some local distributors cut milk packetsand collect it in a blue drum to adulterate it and re-pack it. Adulterators run this racket openly, then why don’t the authorities take any action against them.
If the names of the dairies that are allegedly involved in milk adulteration are not being disclosed by the government, one can use the RTI Act, 2005, to compel the government to do so.

—Dnyanraj Santh, secretary, Grahak Hitvardhini
How can one determine extent of adulteration based on a few samples?
We have heard about the recent study on milk adulteration. The FSSAI has collected some samples from here and there, including Mumbai. Based on lab reports of these samples, they have concluded that 65% of the milk samples from Maharashtra has failed to meet the standards.
How can one determine the extent of milk adulteration in the whole state based on a few samples? The government
cannot disclose the names of the dairies involved, just on these assumptions. It must be proved. As per the new state law, the word ‘adulteration’ is not used anymore. Instead, we use words like sub-standard, unsafe or harmless.
On our part, we do not act hastily on complaints. We raid such centres only when we have concrete evidence.
—Chandrashekhar Salunkhe, joint commissioner, FDA (Food)
Milk is a product easy to adulterate, and many are involved because of the huge profit margins
We, at Katraj Dairy, supply 1.5 lakh litres of milk every day. On a co-operative basis, there are over 900 societies registered with us. We do face problems, no matter how careful we are, but we guarantee that our milk is 100% pure.
Due to the free trade policy, the market is now open to other private milk producers also. In Pune district itself, there are 65 dairies and over 85 milk brands are doing business in the market.
Out of the 10 lakh litres of milk that is supplied in the state, 50% is supplied by dairies in packaged form, and the rest by individual milkmen.
The industry has become huge, but still the state does not have a milk marketing board of its own.
Milk is easy to adulterate and many are involved in this business because of the huge profit margins. On the other hand, the milk industry has reached a crucial stage where it has become very hard for dairies to make enough profits. Just like petrol or sand mafias, there are milk mafias in the state that run these adulteration rackets.
—Vivek Kshirsagar, MD, Katraj Dairy
Adulteration happens at local level, but there is no mechanism to prevent itI completely agree with the FSSAI study, which concludes that 65% of milk samples in the state were found to be contaminated. There is a lot of adulteration happening at the local level, but there is no control mechanism in place to check these illegal activities.
Once the local distributors get their supply of milk from dairies, they become the owners of the milk and can do anything with it.
Mixing water, though illegal, is still not dangerous; but mixing chemicals is like playing with people’s health. It must be curbed by the authorities. The milk adulteration racket goes on, with the FDA and the police doing nothing.
I am originally from Shrirampur. We don’t have many cows there, but lakhs of litres of milk is supplied to other parts of the state from this place. I have observed that the local people in Shrirampur don’t give this milk to their children. Chances of adulteration at lower-level distribution channels are lesser, as compared to the upper level.

—Apurva Deshmukh, proprietor, Govind Distributors

Mobile labs to keep tabs on food and beverages industry

To tighten control over the food and beverages industry, mobile laboratories equipped for surveillance and inspection will soon be deployed, B.S. Ramaprasad, Commissioner, Health and Family Welfare Services, has said.

Among the biggest challenges in implementing the new Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2011 are the lack of food safety inspectors and the poor status of public laboratories, said Mr. Ramaprasad at a seminar on the FSS Act organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce here on Thursday.

The FSS Act, which will replace the over-50 year-old Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954, seeks to integrate several food laws that govern vegetables, meat, milk and edible oil.

No NABL accreditation

“The State has 104 food safety inspectors when the requirement is 234. And while we have five public labs, they are not accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). We need these labs upgraded,” he said. The State will soon get a new NABL-accredited lab, set up in association with the Karnataka Health System Development and Reform Project, and with funding from the World Bank.

‘Some resistance'

Mr. Ramaprasad added that he had encountered resistance from a section of hoteliers in the State for registering under the new Act as they feared penalties and imprisonment that the new Act prescribes for certain violations.

New contaminants

In her lecture on current trends in food analysis, Lalitha R. Gowda, head of the Food Safety and Analytical Quality Control Laboratory, Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore, said that new contaminants now laced our food. Antibiotics and veterinary drug residues were the new additions to the list of additives, pesticides and microbiological contamination.

Food products targeted for adulteration are generally of high commercial value, she said.

This included the addition of corn or cane sugar in honey, artificial vanillin to natural vanilla extract or dilution of wine with water.

Identifying adulteration

However, there are a host of new techniques to identify adulteration, Dr. Gowda said. For instance, high performance liquid chromatography can chemically profile fruit juice to detect adulteration, and isotope ratio mass spectrometry can find out if a fruit has been artificially ripened.

The industry must ensure consumers are empowered with complete information about the products they buy, whether about composition or nutrition, said Bejon Misra, former member of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

PINK OR BLUE? A blood test can tell sex of a 5-week-old fetus

Ratio Of 2 Enzymes In Mom’s Blood Determines Gender

London: A pioneering blood test that could allow pregnant women know the sex of their unborn child as early as five weeks has been developed, but scientists have warned that it has potential for promoting sex-selection.
    Ateam led by Dr Hyun Mee Ryu at Cheil General Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, found that various ratios of two enzymes which can be extracted from a pregnant mother’s blood indicate the baby’s gender as early as five or six weeks.
    Knowing the sex early, the scientists said, is important if the mother is a carrier of an X-chromosome gene that can cause a disease like muscular dystrophy or haemophilia. They said that female fetuses are either free from the disease or are carriers, but a male has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease and parents may choose to abort the pregnancy, the Daily Mail reported.
    However, this method “might promote the potential for sex selection. Therefore, there should be careful consideration about the use of this analytical tool in clinical situations”, the scientists warned.
    Current ultrasounds can detect a baby’s sex at around five months, while available invasive testing can work at 11 weeks. But these tests carry a one to two per cent risk of miscarriage as they require a sample from the amniotic sac that protects the foetus.
    Writing in the The FASEB Journal, Dr Hyu said their test could “reduce the need for invasive procedures in pregnant women carrying an Xlinked chromosomal abnormality and clarify inconclusive readings by ultrasound.”
    For their study, the team collected maternal plasma from 203 women during the first trimester of their pregnancies between 2008 and 2009. They were able to accurately detect the gender of the baby from as early as five weeks by measuring the ratio of the amount of the enzymes — DYS14 and GAPDH — in the blood plasma.
    “Although more work must be done before such a test is widely available, this paper does show it is possible to predict the sex of a child as early as the first few weeks after conception," said Dr Gerald Weissmann, editor-inchief of the journal which published the study. PTI

Rajasthan HC: Test milk samples daily

Rajasthan: The Rajasthan high court showed its disappointment over the supply of adulterated milk in Rajasthan and ordered the state government to test milk samples every day.
The high court issued notices and sought reply from the chief secretary, principal secretary, food and consumer affairs, all district collectors and chief medical and health officers (CMHOs).
The two-judge bench of chief justice Arun Mishra and Justice NK Jain gave the order on Thursday while taking cognisance of the cases of supply of adulterated milk.
The bench said that all government officials should start making efforts for stopping supply of adulterated milk to the consumers. It directed the government to test 100 samples of milk every day in each district of the state and draft a report over the results. The report will be produced on February 6 when the next hearing has been scheduled.
The Food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI), in its report, pointed out about the adulteration in milk products across the country. In Rajasthan, 76 per cent of the milk samples were found adulterated. The adulterants included detergents, besides water.
The report said that 108 samples were collected for the testing in which 78 were found adulterated. The worrying part of the study was its conclusion that the ‘packed milk’ was not absolutely safe. The issue was highlighted in several sections of media. After the publication of the reports, the high court took cognisance and issued notices to the officials.