New Delhi:
Over 68 per cent of milk in the country does not conform to the
standards set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI), the Centre has told the Supreme Court on a plea for checking
sale of synthetic and adulterated milk and various dairy products. The
submission has been made by the Centre in its affidavit which referred
to a survey conducted by the FSSAI, which had found that over 68 per
cent of the “non-conforming” milk was found in urban areas, 66 per cent
of which was loose milk.
According to the FSSAI’s 2011 survey, the most common adulterant was
found to be the addition of water, and the main reason for deviation
from the standards was addition of glucose and skimmed milk powder. It
also found that in some samples, detergent was mixed. The affidavit was
filed in response to the notice issued on a PIL by a group of citizens,
led by Swami Achyutanand Tirth of Uttarakhand, seeking a check on sale
of synthetic and adulterated milk and various dairy products.
Notices had also been issued to Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Delhi governments on a PIL alleging that synthetic and
adulterated milk and milk products are prepared using urea, detergent,
refined oil, caustic soda and white paint which, according to studies,
are “very hazardous” to human life and can cause serious diseases like
cancer.
The petitioners’ advocate Anurag Tomar said that the affidavit is
silent on many aspects which allegedly refer to adulteration of milk and
its products. The affidavit said that over 83 per cent of the
non-conforming milk in rural areas was found to be loose milk. The FSSAI
had analysed 1791 samples of milk randomly collected from 33 states and
Union territories to identify the common adulterant in milk, both loose
and packaged.
It had gathered samples from rural and urban areas and after
analysing them at five different public sector laboratories, it had
found that 68.4 per cent of the samples were non-conforming
(adulterated) to its standards. “Total of 1791 samples of milk were
randomly collected from 33 states with a good mix of rural and urban
areas as well as packaged and loose milk… After analysis 565 (31.5 per
cent) samples were found to be conforming to the FSSAI standards whereas
1226 (68.4 per cent) samples of milk were found to be non-conforming.
“The non-conforming of samples in rural areas were 381 (31 per cent) out of which 64 (16.7 per cent) were packet
samples and 317 (83.2 per cent) were loose sample respectively and in
urban areas the total non-conforming samples were 845 (68.9 per cent)
out of which 282 (33 per cent) were packed and 563 (66.6 per cent) were
loose samples,” the Centre said. The PIL said that the alarming
situation and imminent danger to public health requires immediate action
on the part of the central government and the state governments to
ensure supply of healthy, hygienic and natural milk to the citizens of
India.
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