Milk manufacturing units to face action

The Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (Food Safety Wing) will file cases against four private milk manufacturing units in Coimbatore district for making substandard and misbranded products.

Samples were taken from six manufacturing units during the second week of January. Only two of them were found to conform to all the norms mandated by the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, the Food Safety Wing Designated Officer R. Kathiravan told The Hindu here on Saturday.

These firms account for the bulk of the market share in Coimbatore district. The samples were taken as part of surveillance and protection measures and tested at the Government Food Analysis Laboratory here. They were investigated for fat and solid-not-fat (SNF) contents besides the presence of prohibited substances such as starch and adulterants.

The milk from two companies was found to have SNF component below the mandated levels.

The other two had not complied with the labelling norms as the sachet had not given the proper address of the manufacturing unit. While it was located at Coimbatore, the sachet contained an address in Kerala. A financial penalty would be imposed on all the four firms.

However, microbiological tests, vital to detect the growth of disease-causing organisms, were not performed at the laboratory as some equipment were still to be procured.

The Designated Officer said that such checks would be frequently conducted on various food businesses across the city. The FSS Act provided for imposing stringent penalties including imprisonment on those found violating the norms.

Dr. Kathiravan said that around 50 firms were approaching the Food Safety Wing every day for obtaining licences and registration.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has warned food business operators recently that the deadline for obtaining licences and registrations will not be extended again from February 4 this year. Following this, the Food Safety officials had launched an awareness drive across the city.

Coimbatore has one of the six food analysis laboratories accredited under the FSS Act. The others are in Chennai, Salem, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Madurai.