Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Around 280 tea stalls and hotels in the capital are using toxic milk for tea and for selling purposes.

A dairy firm supplies 22,000 kilogrammes of milk per day on a price of Rs 40 to different sectors according to the statistics during an investigation. The milk is supplied to G9, G8, G7, G6, F6, F7, F8, F10, I-8, I9, I10, H8 and H9 sectors as well as the Blue Area, Bari Imam, Bara Kahu and other rural areas of the capital for Rs 40.

The dairy firm produces two types of milks in which one is for the hotel industry and the other is for the general customer.

In order to determine their authenticity, the samples of both types of milk were transferred for a biological test to a dairy technology laboratory called the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Chak Shahzad where a food scientist Dr Haider put the milk for an assessment for two consecutive days in order to identify the milk’s condition.

Lactometre Reading is a technique on the basis of which the ratio of water is checked in milk. According to the LR results, the ratio of water in the milk provided to general customers is 22 percent while the ratio of water in the milk provided to the hotel industry is 14 percent. According to Punjab Pure Food (PPF), the minimum ratio of fats required in milk is minimum is 5 percent, but both types of milk lag behind in giving consumers that. The ratio of fats in the assessed milk for general customers was 2.7 percent while 0.8 percent only was found in the milk supplied to the hotel industry.

According to PPF, the ratio of solids found in milk should be 14 percent. However, the dairy firm’s milk showed only 9.48 percent of solids found in the milk being given to the general public and only 5.18 percent of solids in milk being handed over to the hotel industry.

The dairy firm’s milk samples assessed at the NARC were found to be “very poor”. The hotel industry’s milk samples failed to curdle while dairy form milk sample showed poor curdling.

Dr Haider has been working in the food standard department for a long time. Talking exclusively to Daily Times, he informed that unfortunately there are no well-equipped labs in the country which would show chemicals and expired milk results.

“Such contaminated milk is smuggled from different countries to Pakistan but only we can check the ratio of fats, solids and water in the milk as well as some other stuff,” he said adding that it is a known fact that expired milk is smuggled from India and other countries on low prices to mix with fresh milk in the Pakistani market. He confirmed that chemicals are mixed in milk to provide to the people.

Pakistan is now the third largest producer of milk in the world. The country produces 40 billion litres of milk annually and the dairy sector contributes about 11 percent to the national Gross Domestic Product.

According to a research paper published by the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, adulterants like formalin, cane sugar, glucose, benzoic acid and alkalinity are also found in well reputed brands of ultra high temperature milk sold in Pakistan. Lack of quality checks is the most neglected aspect of the whole system. Unfortunately, the existing laws have become obsolete and need to be revised in order to investigate more.

To avoid interference from concerned authorities, the dairy firm supplies milk at odd time – before dawn and after sunset. Even the vehicles in charge of supplying this contaminated milk, are in shabby condition. After 2am, the dairy firm finds the liberty to add tap water in the milk. This toxic milk is provided to some of the most reputed hotels of Islamabad.

An owner of a dairy firm in Islamabad, also while talking exclusively to Daily Times, informed that the Food Department is complicit in these practices as it keeps its shares in all the profits, hence its silence can be explained.

“The Federal Investigation Authority as well as the National Accountability Bureau should take immediate action against them,” he said, wishing anonymity.

Nutritionist Dr Shamshad informed Daily Times, that even in this day and age, Pakistan doesn’t have access to a high tech scientific lab where all the chemicals mixed in milk could be identified.

“Also the quality of water that is mixed in the milk is dubious. They obviously don’t add filtered water in the milk. This is a recipe for death,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, September 8^th 2018.