Spurious Milk a danger for life
Kurukshetra, Oct 25 --- As the festive season
approaches every year, we begin to hear more and more stories about spurious
milk and dairy products being sold in the Indian markets. “Around 68.7 per cent
of milk and milk products sold in the country is not as per the standards laid
down by FSSAI,” conceded recently M.S. Ahluwalia, member, Animal Welfare Board
of India and that “the
most common adulterants are caustic soda, glucose, detergent, white
paint and refined oil,” he added.
These scary details remind me of Darshan Singh, the
first person from my village Bagthala in district Kurukshetra to migrate to
Germany in search of work back in 1964. After some initial struggles, he
managed to land a good job at the clinic of a doctor who ran a dairy business
alongside. One day, the doctor had to go out of town, and so he entrusted upon
Darshan Singh the task of supplying milk to his enlisted customers.
When the doctor returned and inquired from Darshan
Singh whether the milk had been supplied to all the customers, he proudly
replied in affirmative. However, when the doctor checked the records, he
discovered that the milk yield on that particular day was lower than usual.
Darshan Singh’s claim to have delivered milk to all despite less production,
therefore, confounded the doctor.
But when questioned about the contrariety, Singh
said that he had added water to the milk to make up the shortfall. Outraged by
Singh’s shameless conduct, the doctor asked him to pack his bags at once and
leave the country or he would file a police complaint against him.
Having lived for ten years in Germany, Darshan
Singh immediately returned to India as a dejected man. His relatives and
friends despite knowing why he was ousted from the country accorded him a
hero's welcome with great pomp and show. When somebody later asked him the
reason for his eviction, Darshan Singh quipped, “I don’t know what angered the
doctor so much, this was exactly what we used to do in our village in such a
situation without any hue and cry.” Apparently, Darshan Singh did not see an
issue in what he had done.
Nothing seems to have changed much since then,
except that water has been replaced with hazardous adulterants like detergent,
paint, formalin, and even urea. Many factories involved in the manufacturing of
spurious milk have been unearthed recently in Punjab and Haryana by the
respective state police and several litres of synthetic milk has been seized
which would have otherwise been used in the preparation of delicacies and
sweets prior to festivals.
Those who indulge in this trade keep doing it
without fear despite clear-cut directions from the Supreme Court that state,
“It is also desirable that the Union of India revisits the Food Safety and
Standards Act, 2006 to revise punishment for adulteration making it more
deterrent in cases where the adulterant can have an adverse impact on
health." Although the authorities stay alert to curb the production of
synthetic milk and do take strict measures
from time to time to prevent such milk from reaching the public, they are not
able to stop this unfair trade practice completely.
Milk
adulteration is a grave issue because synthetic milk has many harmful effects
on human health. Unfortunately, unlike Darshan Singh’s case, this
rampant malpractice is not based on shortage or need; rather it is the result
of some people’s greed who have no qualms about jeopardising human lives. The
government must take more stringent steps to check this menace. It is high time
that just like the German doctor we too take such offences very seriously and
don’t let the culprits get away with them easily.
