JMC fighting a losing battle against milk adulteration

Hurdles: Staff shortage, lack of equipment, 'inadequate' police cover
Jammu, October 6
The attack on a team of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), including Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma, by milk suppliers yesterday has yet again brought to the fore the blatant show of strength by "mafia", which controls the supply in the city.
Sources said though a campaign had been launched by the civic authorities to curb the influx of adulterated milk, suppliers and shopkeepers were working in tandem to earn profits at the cost of consumers' health.
The incident has also highlighted the failure of the successive governments to establish a strong movement in the state to check the monopoly of some people on the supply of milk.
JMC Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma said, “We will not be deterred by such acts. The municipality is determined to deal with adulteration of milk. We have decided to intensify the campaign against the menace in the coming days.” Dr Sharma had received injuries on his face after being attacked by milk suppliers, mostly Gujjars, yesterday.
However, officials said checking milk was not possible on a daily basis as thousands of litres was consumed every day in the city. “The municipal corporation is facing shortage of manpower and requires mobile equipment for quality checking. A random tour is undertaken, and that too, without police cover most of the times,” said a JMC official on the condition of anonymity.
Officials said the attack showed the extent to which suppliers could go. Sources said several prominent shopkeepers were hand in glove with suppliers and were openly defying authorities in the absence of strong laws.
To meet the need of milk of the growing population, the state imports nearly 6 lakh metric tonnes of milk annually from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and keeping a tab on its quality is a herculean task for the civic authorities.
In 2011, a study by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) had found that 83 per cent of milk sold in urban districts of the state was unsafe for consumption.
There are 71 wards spread over 112 sq km which make up Jammu city. Some of its colonies came up after 1990. The health wing of the corporation has the responsibility of ward no-1 to ward no-48. The remaining wards are looked after by the legal meteorology department.
‘Not deterred by attack’
JMC Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma, who received injuries on his face after being attacked by milk suppliers on Saturday, said, “We will not be deterred by such acts. The municipality is determined to deal with adulteration of milk. We have decided to intensify the campaign against the menace in the coming days.”

The FDA Isn't Inspecting Food During The Government Shutdown

E-coli outbreaks crop up every now and then. Some are more widespread then others, but if they're related to food and especially if that food may have crossed state lines, the FDA starts tracing to find the source. If foodborne bacteria cause an outbreak in the U.S. today, though, the FDA won't do anything. Because the FDA is closed.
FDA food safety inspectors are furloughed right now and have been all week. Which, as Quartz explains, is problematic because, in addition to finding the source of outbreaks, the FDA also monitors 80 percent of all U.S. food and especially imports. And don't think for a second that the food safety inspectors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aren't on Furlough too, because they are.
Fruits, vegetables, seafood and and basically anything else that comes through US customs isn't being safety checked by the FDA right now. And the agency has a pretty extensive system of "red alerts" to keep track of companies and shipment sources with a bad track record, but no one is referring to that information right now. So if you're one of the tens of thousands of vendors on FDA "red alert," for anything from excrement-ladened produce to dietary supplements also containing mad cow disease, this is your chance to sell to the U.S.. Got lead-ladened candy? Come on in!