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Oz milk sold in Pakistan poses a major risk of health due to extreme pollution and mixing in unorganized supply chain.
In Punjab, the passage law has deprived several deadlines of implementation.
The Punjab Food Authority had enforced a law in 2017 to ban the sale of milk in Punjab under Punjab Pure Food Regulation 2017. The PFA planned to advance loose milk in Punjab in five years by 2022.
Punjab Pure Food Regulations, 2017, was canceled on the implementation of Punjab Pure Food Regulations, 2018.
In 2019, a report was submitted to the then Prime Minister Imran Khan by provincial authorities. It states that 70 % of the milk sold in Punjab was contaminated and it was not suitable for use. Of the 601 samples in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan, 442 were found to be disqualified for use.
The report has accused the milk mixture of ‘mafia’ of using smuggled powder milk from Iran and mixing it with ghee and water so that it will be sold at higher profit. Khan directed Jahangir Terrine to work with provincial authorities on a Turkish -style passage policy based on Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018. The proposal included labeling standards and a five -year transition period.
In February 2022, the provincial government said it was ready to enforce the minimum passage law by July 2022, in which a pilot program is about to begin in Lahore from March 2022. This implementation will start from Model Town. After assessing the views, the government will extend it to the rest of Lahore. In the third phase, the project will be copied to Punjab.
The Punjab Food Authority said, “The sale of loose milk will not be allowed. All the milk offered for sale will be passed as a necessity.”
“Any or any cooperative that engages in milking, polling and selling to intermediaries or companies, which is distributed to the distribution of consumers to eliminate consumers before using it. In addition, they will have to help identify the origin of milk so that they can help and then ensure the original milk.”
In December, 2022, a survey was conducted nationwide by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences for Milk Quality and Protection. It concluded that 91 % of the samples of milk do not meet the required quality and safety standards. The survey was conducted in 11 cities of Pakistan in collaboration with Nelson.
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, Pakistan is the third largest milk producing country after India and the United States.
In January 2023, the PFA announced the ban on loose milk across Punjab under the PASTERATION Act. PFA’s then DG, Moodsar Riaz Malik, said the implementation would start soon. There has been no progress since then.
The loose trail of milk
Milk is traditionally purchased from gollas (milk sellers) and boiled before eating. Most Pakistanis are unaware of the risk of health -related health related to loose milk.
The process of collecting raw milk and transporting it to consumers begins with traditional dairy farms. Some of these cows are treated with hormones and other medicines to increase the productivity. The quality of cleaning on these livestock sheds is not permanently implemented. Bacterial contamination of milk can be caused by poor handling and breastfeeding ways.
Milk is often brought in front of the open air, which increases the risk of pollution from bacterial bacteria.
Dairy farms are usually stored in milk containers that are not clean. After that it is either directly transported to consumers or retail shops.
Retailers can increase careless handling pollution.
To maintain/ improve the appearance of milk, some dishonest shopkeepers are also known for using unsafe water and/ or harmful chemicals (starch, urea, porchito).
Pasteurized milk
Punjab Pure Food Regulations, 2018, the following milk is appreciated:
“When used to describe the dairy product, pasteurized and their gramical variations mean that each particle of such products will be heated to specific temperatures in the table of this paragraph properly operated and will be kept permanently at this temperature or more permanently.”
If the fat content of the milk product is 10 % or more. Or the total solid 18 % or more. Or if it contains dessert. The specific temperature will be increased to 3ºC. Passorized milk should have a negative phosphate test.
Pasteurized milk is a liquid product made of fresh raw milk that is derived from halal milk animals, in which the bacterial pathogenic micro organisms of the plants are completely eliminated through the plants and immediately cooled to 6 ° C after processing.
Shakir Omar, president of the dairy and cattle farmers, says that when milk is purchased from farmers or milk retailers, people boil it at home. It argues that the passage does not require a law.
Dr. Sanaullah, chairman of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at UVAS, says, “Pasurization does not mean mere heat to heat. The real problem is to detect. It was the main purpose behind the legislation.
“The Director General of the Punjab Food Authority has admitted that 80 percent of the milk sold in Lahore was irreparable. When the milk is packaged, it gets detected. If there is any quality problem, the source can be identified and accountable.”
Punjab Food Authority Director General Mohammad Asim Javed says the law was made in a hurry.
If you don’t even have infrastructure, the need for a process is an inappropriate approach … we want to be so – but correctly.
“First, all stakeholders should be taken into confidence. Secondly, the infrastructure required for full passage should be in their place. These are two conditions. We said the same in the Special Investment Facility Council.”
“A small farmer or shopkeeper cannot afford it before selling milk. We are confident that this will discourage small farmers. The passage law will benefit multinational companies.”
Dr. Sanaullah argued that public and private sectors can assist in the establishment of processing plants. They say that the villagers should need to collect milk at the facilities, where they can be pasteurized, packaged and packed and returned.
Javed says, “The decision of 2017 was wrong. Now people in the industry bring it every other day and demand that the sale of milk be banned. But if consumers are happy to buy loose milk, how can we completely ban it? Last year, the packaged milk was about 11-12 percent of the market.
He suggests that if loose milk is banned, farmers can go on strike and refuse to sell milk.
Dr Sanaullah says the project was to set up a processing unit on Lahore’s entrances. Milk will be collected, tested, pasteurized and packaged, will be cooled and handed over to the villagers for distribution.
He said the key stakeholders are reluctant to make this change because they are making more profit from selling mixed milk.
“Perhaps the disciplinary institutions are not strong enough to effectively implement the project.”
Shakir says RBST (Recombinant Boen Sometropen) is being smuggled into the country and is widely used. He says that this injection requires cold chains for transportation. Otherwise, it gets worse. They say oxytenson should also be banned. They say that the bacteria growth in milk begins only after breastfeeding. Pastuerisation plants must be installed at the farm level, preventing this. We also need to prepare a cold supply chain. He says the implementation of the Pasurication Law will essentially hand over the market to big companies.
Dr. Sana does not agree with Allah. He says, “The process of implementation can certainly be made, but the implementation of this law is absolutely necessary. It was designed very carefully. If the Punjab Food Authority or any other regulatory body believes that some changes are needed, they can make these changes.
Javed says that PFA is working on the milk government. Milk sellers are part of the Dairy Association, Pakistan Dairy Association, Livestock Department and Punjab Food Authority. We have formed various committees. A committees are focusing on research – how to make the industry focused on research.
Author is the Associate Producer in the Geo Election and Research Cell.
