Gujarat: Over 22 lakh litres of milk checked in a month after complaints, no adulteration found in any sample

The FDCA checked the quality of milk in more than 182 tankers at 14 dairies in the state.

FDCA Commissioner Dr HG Koshia said that the drive was conducted after the department received several complaints from citizens regarding the quality of milk sold in the state.

About 900 samples of milk coming to the dairies across the state through tankers, cans and other means were tested on the spot by Food Safety Lab on Wheels. During this investigation, more than 15 lakh litres of milk produced in Gujarat, and 7 lakh litres that had come from other states, were found to be as per the standards and no other substances like urea, sucrose, maltodextrin, sodium bicarbonate, detergent or other harmful chemicals were found in them, said officials.

As part of intensive checks by special squads at various check posts at the state borders, milk tankers coming from states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan were checked.

These teams patrolled four places early in the morning, namely Ratanpur check post in Aravalli district, Bajipura check post in Tapi district, Pitol check post in Dahod district, and Sabar Dairy in Himmatnagar, took milk samples from the tankers, and tested them on the spot in a food safety van using the Milkoscan machine, said officials.

During this intensive inspection, a total of 31 milk tankers arriving from other states were checked; out of these, as many as 41 milk samples were checked on the spot in the Milkoscan machine. All these milk samples were found to be as per the standards, said officials.

A total of 29 surveillance samples were taken and sent to the laboratory for further testing. In all, more than 6.25 lakh litres of milk was checked while being transported at different check posts on the state border. Notably, tankers with a capacity of 10,000 to 28,000 litres of milk were found sealed, and had a milk report attached, to prevent adulteration during transportation. Such tankers were taken to dedicated centres where the seals were opened, milk checked and the vehicles allowed to proceed.

Dr Koshia, in a statement on Friday, further said that the administration conducts state-wide drives for milk sampling from time to time. Last year, about 3,300 samples were taken, out of which 3% were not as per the standards, inviting action as per the rules.