LAHORE: Following the statement of Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development secretary in a parliamentary committee that “all packaged milk is fake”, Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America Country Director Prof Javaid Awan said the issue lies in loose milk, not the packaged milk.
Expressing concern over the secretary’s statement, Prof Awan, a food technologist, said that most packaged milk in Pakistan is being processed by reputed national and international companies that follow standards and quality as approved by the Pakistan Standards Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
The director further said these companies contribute 11 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP and with such huge investment they cannot afford to provide a substandard product.
In order to ensure milk quality, especially in terms of adulteration and food safety hazards, Prof Awan said: “The milk is collected at village level (MCC) where it is stored in a farm cooling tank which keeps it cool right after milking. It is transferred from MCC (after testing) in cleaned stainless steel (SS) tankers and transported to main collection centre where milk is subjected to numerous (up to 30 in some cases) qualitative and quantitative tests. Any milk that does not meet the standard is rejected. After satisfactory testing results, milk is shifted in the main SS tanker which is dispatched to a processing plant where each portion of milk is again subjected to numerous tests to ensure the quality.
Commenting on the loose milk, Prof Awan said: “Caution needs to be taken on loose milk, as its supply is mostly subject to adulteration, which means the deliberate, non-accidental, preventable changes in milk for making economic gain and/or to save milk from spoilage. This results in undesirable residues and inappropriate particles or microorganisms (apparently unintentional) finding their way into the milk.”
According to UVAS-USAID-PFA-LDD study on loose milk supply chain in Lahore 2016, approximately 80pc milkmen are transporting milk without temperature control, and a small number of them does adulteration tests.
According to the study, more than 87pc samples (out of 485#) contained Aflatoxin M-1 beyond toxic (maximum permissible Limit). Average contamination was 2.3 ppb against USFDA standard (0.5 ppb) and EU standard (0.05 ppb).
In view of all abovementioned facts, it is incorrect to say that “all packaged milk is fake”, Awan said, adding that the authorities need to take action against those who produce “fake” milk.
