Jalandhar (Parteek Singh): The Milk adulteration is on the rise in the district as 50 percent of the milk samples picked up from the district by the health department in a year have failed to conform standards.
According to the health department in the last year, 154 milk samples were collected for testing, of which 77 samples failed the test and were found substandard. The samples were collected from both dairies and shops, and the results of 14 samples are yet to be received by the office.
As per official record, As many as 37 out of 102 samples of milk products and sweets collected by health department from April 2017 to May 2018 were found manufactured with substandard raw material, unsafe for human consumption under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
The standard parameters for testing milk checking for fat content, urea content, presence of foreign objects and more is listed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The health department collects samples to test them regularly. Flavoured milk, paneer and milk powder are also tested and if some of the samples are found substandard, action is initiated against the dairies they came from.
The health department has claimed to launch civil or criminal proceedings against defaulters as the cases of substandard have been filed in the court of the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) and unsafe cases have been listed in the court of the chief judicial magistrate.
The health department had also collected around Rs 10.70 lakh as fine imposed on defaulters in the last fourteen months including Rs 1.85 lakh collected in the month of April this year.
“We always emphasise on milk and milk products, whenever we conduct the drive to check adulteration of food products. The milk is an important product as it used in baby food, sweets and other daily consumable food items. The collected samples were sent to state food and drugs testing laboratory in Kharar and 77 samples were found below standard as they failed to match the fat content standard, but there was no chemical adulteration found the samples as milk was adulterated with water,” said district food security inspector, Divya Bhagat.
She said that ADC can impose a fine on the defaulter and court can sentence a defaulter to life imprisonment for the unsafe sample