In one of the most shocking reports published by a local daily The Goan under the title “Goa Gulping Spurious Milk! Racket Busted” has unearthed the severe adulteration of Milk that we consume on daily basis. This is the most sensational report that will make your think before the milk consumption. According to the reports, the supply of the milk to Goa also comes from private dairies situated in Karnataka and Maharashtra and based on the backdrop of Milk Adulteration Racket busted by the authorities in Belagavi, there is a need of an alertness for Goan consumers, said the sources.
According to the sources, the milk adulteration racket was busted following the simultaneous raids carried out by Tehsildars of Athani, Raibag and other talukas in Belagavi district on Tuesday and Wednesday. The raids were made on some private dairies engaged in supplying milk to the different parts of Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, sources in the raiding team informed The Goan. Authorities were shocked to discover that heavily adulterated milk was packaged under the name of different brands and was being supplied to innocent consumers for nearly 10 years.
The sources said that acting on the tip of the information from the reliable sources, the Athani Tehshildar R Umadevi and Raibag Tehshildar Rajshekhar carried out raids on a few milk manufacturing dairies which used to supply adulterated milk and busted the racket of adulteration. The police have arrested five milkmen who used to supply such milk to the dairies, while a few managed to abscond, sources added. Interrogation revealed that the milkmen used to prepare about 28-litre milk with just one liter of a cow or packaged milk after adding 1-liter edible oil, 1 kilo of wheat, about 100 grams toothpaste, 2 kilos of chemicals and water. The raiding team was shocked when the arrested milkmen confessed that, they were engaged in adulteration of milk for about a decade. About 10,000 liters of such hazardous milk is being supplied daily, they revealed in the interrogation.
The officials have seized all the materials used in making adulterated milk. The arrested milkman has revealed before that authorities that, some dairies in Athani, Chikkodi, Raibag and Khanapur talukas in Karnataka and a few dairies in Maharashtra were also involved in the illicit milk business. Condemning the incidents of adulteration, Karnataka Milk Federations (KMF) Belagavi unit in-charge Dr. J R Manneri said their Nandini milk, a prominent brand in Goa, has to go through several tests before it is packaged.”In fact, technical experts from KMF are assisting the district administration in identifying the adulterated milk in the raids,” he said.
The Belagavi Tehsildar Federation (KMF) have urged consumers in Goa to insist on milk packaged by the leading cooperative milk brands. “We advise Goan consumers to observe extra caution and insist on milk that is packaged by the government-aided cooperative dairies only. The action was initiated only because some dairy owners brought the issue to the notice of authorities. Meanwhile, The Director of Food and Drugs Administration Salim Veljee has assured that his department keeping the constant watch on all milk being supplied to the State through regular surveys and other measures. When media asked the Director to comment on the adulteration of the milk wherein the 1 liter of milk is converted into 30 liters he said that the quality of milk to Goa was never in question and Goa’s milk received a ‘high score’ at a national level survey testing. “We conduct regular surveys through constant checks on all milk being supplied in the State and that coming from outside too. Of all samples we have tested, the majority have reported negative for any adulteration,” Veljee told The Goan. According to Mr. Veljee, Goa even participated in a national survey of milk testing and scored well The survey Veljee is referring to is the FSSAI National Survey on Adulteration of Milk in India conducted in 2012. In Goa’s case, however, all the samples confirmed to FSSAI standards making it the only territory along with Puducherry who reported 100% compliance with FSSAI standards of milk quality.
HOW IS THE SYNTHETIC MILK MADE USING CHEMICALS?
According to the news report, the adulterated milk is made with the help of Vegetable refined oil (any brand) whose butyrorefractometer reading is less than 42 is taken in a wide mouthed container along with a suitable emulsifier and thoroughly mixed so that the entire content is made into a thick white paste. After this is achieved, water is slowly added to the paste until the density of the liquid is similar to that of milk. Then it is added with urea or sodium sulphate or glucose or maltose or sometimes any one of the commonly available fertilizers is added. These substances are usually dissolved in hot water and then added to the seemingly milk-like solution.The refined oil in synthetic milk acts as a source of fat whereas the hot solution of any one of the substances above-mentioned acts as a source of solids, not fat (SNF). The ingredients that go into the making of synthetic milk are calculated in such a way that the fat and SNF percentage are similar to mixed milk. Hence it easily passes the platform tests carried out at the village level dairy co-operative society (fat and lactometer reading etc.) but from the Belagavi police with the arrested milkmen and the seized materials. Private dairies supplying milk to Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra raided; 5 milkmen held, many absconding.
NEWS SOURCE: THE GOAN | IMAGE SOURCE
