Chennai: In the wake of state minister KT Rajenthra Balaji's charge that private firms in the state were adulterating milk with toxic chemicals, the Tamil Nadu government has sent samples to the Central Food Laboratory in Pune for a detailed analysis.
The referral laboratory for the region received four samples from the office of the commissioner for milk production and dairy development in Madhavaram on May 31, lab director Suhas Bakre said. "It will take two weeks for us to test and send the report to officials in the state. We will be testing the milk for fat content, chemicals and other substances. The results will be sent by June 20," he said.
In May, dairy development minister Rajenthra Bhalaji said his department suspected that carcinogenic substances were being added to milk by private manufacturers. "These chemicals are available freely in cities like Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore. In Chennai, these chemicals can be purchased for Rs 20 from Flower Bazaar. They are mixed with milk to increase shelf life," he said.
Although Bhalaji stated last month that the government had sent samples to the Pune lab, officials at the lab told TOI on May 28 that the last time they received samples from Tamil Nadu was in June 2016. A sachet of whole milk produced by a private firm was sent to the laboratory by the designated officer in Erode for testing "fat" content. "The sample failed the test and we sent the report to the officer concerned. There were no toxic chemicals in it," Bakre said. Three days later, the lab received samples from the state government.
An official in the dairy department, who refused to speak on record, said some milk samples were tested by Aavin. "We detected the presence of chemicals in it but we can't file cases or initiate action against the manufacturers because these samples were tested in our lab. Besides being a conflict of interest, the food safety rules don't permit us to initiate action until they are tested in a central lab," he said.
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