Days after a government agency came with a study stating 69 per cent of milk distributed in Delhi do not subscribe to the fixed safety norms, dairy majors including Mother Dairy and Amul today asserted they supply milk and dairy products only after rigorous quality check.

Mother Dairy and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which account for a major share of milk and dairy products supplied in Delhi and NCR, asserted they undertake harsh quality checks before despatching their products to market.

GCMMF sells milk and dairy products under brand Amul.

The Delhi government had also on Tuesday claimed that the none of the milk samples checked were found containing any harmful adulterants like detergent or urea.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) study claimed that 70 per cent of milk samples picked up from the capital failed to confirm to standards.

It had also claimed 50 per cent of the samples were found to be contaminated with glucose and skim milk powder.

According to the FSSAI study, in 33 states and UTs the milk was found adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea besides the age-old practice of diluting with water.

Reacting to the report, Mother Dairy, which has over 1,200 exclusive outlets in Delhi and NCR, said it maintains stringent measures to ensure the quality and purity of the milk provided by the company.

“Each batch of incoming and outgoing milk is subjected to 21 quality tests including presence of foreign matter and bacteriological tests,” a Mother Dairy spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said Mother Dairy products are process and packed in ISO certified plants and strict controls are exercised.

Mother Dairy also has a unique concept of having a team of qualified and trained personnel operating in field.

“This team operating in field also assures that the products manufactured by Mother Dairy are handled properly after it leaves the factory to avoid any type of spoilage of the product,” the spokesperson said.

Amul, which has a very large market share in Delhi, said it tests milk at four stages from procurement to despatch.

Its Managing Director R S Sodhi from Anand in Gujarat said that it is not clear from the report whether the samples were taken from branded or unbranded milk.

On skimmed milk, Sodhi said Amul has uninterrupted supply of milk throughout the year and therefore there is no question of using milk powder.

Meanwhile, a report from Ahmedabad said GCMMF on Wednesday welcomed the nation-wide survey on milk adulteration by FSSAI, but opposed the findings on skimmed milk powder (SMP).

“It’s good for the industry because rampant adulteration in milk shall get reduced with such surveys,” Sodhi said.

HC notice to govt on news report on contaminated milk

The Delhi High Court has sought the stands of the Union and city governments on a news report claiming that 70 per cent of milk samples lifted from the national capital were found to be contaminated.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw sought the two governments’ stands after taking suo motu cognisance of the news report published in a national daily on 10th January.

The bench issued notices to the Delhi government’s Department of Prevention of Food Adulteration and the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and sought their replies by 25th January.

According to FSSAI, 70 per cent of the milk samples, lifted for testing in the national capital, were found to be contaminated with glucose and skimmed milk powder.

The report further claimed that almost 69 per cent of the samples tested by the government agency across the country, were found to be adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea, besides water.

According to the report, the samples taken for testing by FSSAI from urban areas included both packed as well as loose milk.