Even branded milk is unsafe

20 lakh litres of milk is consumed every day.

• Salmonella and e-coli bacteria found in samples collected 

• Supreme Court orders not implemented 

Milk, normally consumed as a healthy drink, could prove to be counterproductive if its purity is compromised. Sadly many people in the city have been unwittingly consuming milk that is not only adulterated, but also contains harmful bacteria. So, we get milk that is suspect in terms of quality, purity and fat content, let alone the quantity of milk that we get in packets. 

The quality of milk is so poor in some cases that its regular consumption could affect digestive system and kidneys.  This means that for the companies their business interests override customer safety. 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), following a survey done in 2011, had warned that 70% of milk sold in the country is adulterated. In the wake of the report, the Supreme Court directed the central government to take strict action against the adulterators and legal changes were effected in 2011. Yet, most of the dairies have continued with their questionable practices, regardless of laws and regulatory authorities.

About 80 lakh people in the city consume 20 lakh litres of milk ever day. This implies that they are also ingesting harmful bacteria which could cause problems to their digestive system and also contribute to consumers developing other diseases in long run. 

Srinivas, a resident of Uppal, approached the Andhra Pradesh Balala Hakkula Sangham (APBHS), complaining that adulterated milk is being sold in the city. The APBHS did independent analysis and found out that some of the milk samples contained harmful bacteria. The APBHS then filed a case with the AP Human Rights Council. 

The council directed the GHMC authorities to look into the issues and take action. Acting on the orders of the Commissioner, Food Safety, the GHMC authorities picked up from various places 30 milk samples representing various brands and sent them to the State Food Laboratory.  The lab found that eight of the samples were unsafe and sub-standard.

Pure milk should not contain bacteria beyond permissible limits, but the samples contained bacteria far beyond permissible limits.  Experts at SFL say that these might have entered the milk through water (a common adulterant). Some of the bacteria found were those that could cause vomiting, diarrhoea and even kidney problems in the long run.

Atchyuta Rao, president of APBHS, told Hyderabad Hans, “We are strongly condemning the sale of sub-standard, unsafe milk of popular brands. We demand that cases be booked against these brands and their products seized as per the Food Safety and Standards Act-2006.”