Adulterated Milk

Samples collected by the Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) of Gujarat have seized 34,498 kg of adulterated ghee and 1,07,122 kg of adulterated milk-milk products in 10 months, worth a total of ₹8.03 cr.

FGCA Gujarat has seized adulterated milk during surprise and routine checks by teams in districts and cities of the state,said an official of DGCA, Gandhinagar. He said that the milk was being supplied by various milk vendors from different places in Gujarat and they were supplying and using it for making milk products and sweets. Those who were using it have been caught in which now these traders are selling milk to people by mixing maltodextrin powder, glucose and milk powder.

FDCA Commissioner Dr HG Koshia, who shared that data with Gujarat Samachar said that our teams are on the ground to nab such thieves doing illegal activities to earn from adulterated milk and milk products, seizing milk and milk products worth ₹2.38 cr and ghee worth ₹1.68 cr. Apart from this, spices worth ₹3.41 cr, Indian cuisine worth ₹9.64 lakh, edible oil worth ₹43 lakh have also been seized by the department from Apr 31, 2023 to Jan 1, 2024.

Our teams used to check such milk carriers regularly and carry out surprise checking, he said. Surprise checks are held by the department from time to time and that too for packaged and branded products. The collected samples are sent to 8 different laboratories of the state government to identify its quality. The department collects and tests samples of milk, milk products sold in all districts to ensure quality. After testing the sample of milk, if we find that the milk contains something other than milk ingredients or impurity to increase its price, we will take legal action. If sub standard we will only impose penalty and if unsafe then we will proceed for legal action.

He said, "Four years ago we found the presence of urea in milk in a sample. We have machines like HPLC and GC, both high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) machines, which are chromatography techniques that separate and separate substances and can identify compounds from mixtures.