Question : Adulteration in Milk

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has received any complaints regarding adulterated food items including milk and milk products, if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise including Jammu and Kashmir;

(b) whether cases have been registered under Prevention of Adulteration Act and action taken to monitor and check the sale of adulterated food items during the last three years and the current year, State/UTwise including Jammu and Kashmir;

(c) whether the Government has developed any mechanism to check adulteration of milk and milk products, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government proposes to provide any grant to make this mechanism available, if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether the Government proposes to provide grant on the purchase of self test kits to the consumers to check the quality of food products at home and if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE)
(a) & (b): Cases of adulteration in food items including milk and milk products have come to the notice of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 primarily rests with the State/ UT Governments. Regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products is undertaken by the officials of Food Safety Departments of the respective States/UTs to check compliance of the standards laid down under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the rules and regulations thereunder. In cases, where the food samples are found to be non-conforming, recourse is taken to penal provisions under Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. As per the information made available by State/UT Governments to FSSAI, numbers of samples of food items, including milk and milk products, received, analysed, found to be adulterated/misbranded and action taken during 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, State/UT wise, are at Annexure I, II and III respectively.



(c) & (d): FSSAI has distributed a rapid milk testing machine called Electronic Milk Adulteration Testing (EMAT) Machine with a capacity to test 90-100 samples/hour to Food Safety Departments of 29 States/UTs for analysis of milk parameters. EMAT is an ideal solution for accurate analysis of milk parameters and to distinguish between genuine and adulterated/spurious milk. Besides testing compositional parameters of milk like fat, Solid Not Fat (SNF), protein, lactose, density, it can detect adulterants namely added water, urea, detergent, ammonium sulphate, caustic soda, hydrogen peroxide, soda and salt in the raw milk. This machine was validated by National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. It can be easily used in remote areas where testing facilities are not available. Installation of each EMAT machine costs Rs. 1.94 lakhs approximately.

(e): No such proposal is under consideration in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.