January 13, 2012

 

 

When a study issued by a government agency stating 69% of milk distributed in Delhi does not meet fixed safety norms, India's dairy majors, Mother Dairy and Amul have insisted they supply milk and dairy products only after rigorous quality checks.

 

Mother Dairy and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which account for a major share of milk and dairy products supplied in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), asserted they undertake harsh quality checks before despatching their products to market. GCMMF sells milk and dairy products under brand Amul.

 

The Delhi government had also claimed Tuesday that none of the milk samples checked was found containing any harmful adulterants like detergent or urea.

 

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) study claimed that 70% of milk samples picked up from the capital failed to conform to standards. It had also claimed 50% of the samples were found to be contaminated with glucose and skim milk powder.

 

According to the FSSAI study, in 33 states and UTs the milk was found adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea besides the age-old practice of diluting with water.

 

Reacting to the report, Mother Dairy, which has over 1,200 exclusive outlets in Delhi and NCR, said it maintains stringent measures to ensure the quality and purity of the milk provided by the company.

 

"Each batch of incoming and outgoing milk is subjected to 21 quality tests including presence of foreign matter and bacteriological tests," a Mother Dairy spokesperson said. The spokesperson said Mother Dairy products are process and packed in ISO certified plants and strict controls are exercised.

 

Mother Dairy also has a unique concept of having a team of qualified and trained personnel operating in the field. "This team operating in field also assures that the products manufactured by Mother Dairy are handled properly after it leaves the factory to avoid any type of spoilage of the product," the spokesperson said.

 

Amul, which has a large market share in Delhi, said it tests milk at four stages from procurement to despatch.

 

Its managing director R S Sodhi told PTI from Anand in Gujarat that it is not clear from the report whether the samples were taken from branded or unbranded milk.

 

On skimmed milk, Sodhi said Amul has uninterrupted supply of milk throughout the year and therefore there is no question of using milk powder.