Milk Safety and Quality Compliance

“ National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018 has demonstrated that the problem of purity is not very serious. Undue hype is created by the vested parties to denounce the quality and safety of milk sold in India. It may be worthwhile to mention that Government of India is keen to implement the food safety laws to ensure the supply of safe and wholesome foods to the consumers. FSSAI has also made training of Food Safety Supervisors mandatory under its Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) programme. Already about 1.7 lakh Food Safety Supervisors have been trained in food sectors. IDA is a Training Partner for organizing the FoSTaC training in Special Manufacturing Advanced Training for dairy plants.

A National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018 was conducted by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The Survey included the testing of milk samples for safety and quality in terms of pesticides, antibiotic residues, Aflatoxin M1 and ammonium sulphate besides 13 types of adulterants. The survey covered around 1100 towns with a population of more than 50000 spread over all the 29 states and 7 Union Territories. A total of 6432 milk samples of both raw and processed milk, were collected. The survey was conducted during the month of May to October, 2018 to cover the seasonal differences.

Of the total of 6432 samples, 41% were processed milk and 59% raw milk. Of the processed milk, 60% samples were toned milk, 20% full cream milk, 15% standard milk and 5% double tonned milk. Of the raw milk category, 33% of each were samples of cow, buffalo and mixed milk.

The results of this national milk safety and quality survey were discussed in a meeting convened by FSSAI on 9 September, 2019 under the Chairmanship of Shri Pawan Agarwal, CEO.

Ammonium sulphate was detected in 3% samples of milk. It was indicated that ammonium sulphate is not a chemical of safety concern. FDA of United States has classified ammonium sulphate as a GRAS additive. It is allowed in bakery food products at the level of 0.15% under good manufacturing practice. Since payment for milk in India is not based on protein, there is no reason for adding it as an adulterant to inflate protein levels. Ammonium compounds are normally added to feeds to increase the protein intake of animals. The concerned scientific panel may, therefore, consider the case for removal of ammonium sulphate from the list of contaminants and fix a maximum limit in milk.

Aflatoxin M₁ was detected in large number of raw milk samples and processed milk. Occurrence of Aflatoxin M₁ is directly related with the quality of feeds and may not be considered as a willful adulteration. However, the presence of Aflatoxin is of considerable importance from the human health point. It is, therefore, important that the quality of feed served to the milking animals should be regularly examined and measures recommended for proper storage of fodder to reduce the occurrence of Aflatoxins in cattle feeds. An awareness programme for milk producers on safe feeding practices should be undertaken by dairy processing plants with regard to elimination of mould infested dry roughages from the feeding practices.

Awareness can be enhanced through training programmes which may be conducted by the dairy and extension specialists, Govt. departments and milk processing establishments. At present, the presence of a maximum of 50 ppb of Aflatoxin M₁ in the commercial feeds is allowed. However, this limit should be reviewed again. A good beginning for increasing awareness of farmers has been made by the Mother Dairy and VRS Foods. At the same time, the safety and quality of compounded cattle feed needs to be regulated through necessary legislative orders in order to reduce the occurrence of Aflatoxin M₁ in milk. Animals do not know as to which feeds are being offered to them.

The presence of antibiotics in milk was not very alarming as hyped by the press and media since about 1.2% samples showed the occurrence of antibiotic residues above tolerance level. Antibiotics are used to treat the mastitis and other diseases in animals. Incidentally, high milk producing crossbred cows are very prone to mastitis. It is gratifying to know that NDRI has developed a kit for rapid detection of many antibiotics in milk. The testing kit is low cost compared with the classical LCMS technology which is very expensive and beyond the reach of the small dairy farmers.

With regard to pesticide residues, only 28 samples out of a total of 6432 were detected for the presence of pesticide residues and only one sample showed the value above MRL. On the basis of the National Milk Safety Survey, it can be easily concluded that the problem of pesticide residue, though not fully resolved, is not very alarming. Here again, single strip testing method developed for screening the pesticides by NDRI scientists should be popularized and adopted by stakeholders.

One-third of the samples were found to have added water. The milk processing plants must be vigilant to ensure that processed milk meets the requirements of chemical quality. Why is that 19.5% samples did not comply with the standards for fat and 34% samples did not meet the minimum standard of SNF? It was noted that buffalo milk is likely to be adulterated with water and sold as cow milk. Additionally about 6% of the processed milk contained maltodextrin and 3% samples were added with sugar. These adulterants may find place in milk through skimmed milk powder used for balancing the SNF content in milk. Sampling of SMP for testing safety and quality will be started in due course.

Traditional dairy products like Khoa, Paneer and Khoabased sweets are added with vegetable oils and starch for sale during festival season. FSSAI has planned to carry out a survey on the safety and quality of traditional milk products and other sold across the country and develop strategies to curb the menace of adulteration.

It is good to know that National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018 has demonstrated that the problem of purity is not very serious. Undue hype is created by the vested parties to denounce the quality and safety of milk sold in India. This is a case of scaremongering to reduce consumer confidence in Indian milk and milk products. It may be worthwhile to mention that Government of India is keen to enforce the food safety laws to ensure the supply of safe and wholesome foods to the consumers.

Those interested may request the FSSAI to obtain the copy of the report on National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018.

FSSAI has mandated Safety Audits for centrally licensed food business operators manufacturing and marketing high risk foods. At present, there are about 5000 dairy plants licensed by FSSAI in India. The food companies should get safety audits done by a recognized and accredited food certification agency at intervals specified by the food regulator. FSSAI has been organizing meetings with the stakeholders at regular intervals to ensure safe distribution of food products. In the absence of third party safety audits, FSSAI have planned to conduct inspection of dairy processing units once in six months. Scheme for testing and inspection of milk has been developed by the food regulator.

To ensure production of safe food products and capacity building, the FSSAI has also made training of Food Safety Supervisors mandatory under its Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) programme. Already about 1.7 lakh Food Safety Supervisors have been trained in food sectors. IDA is a Training Partner for organizing the FoSTaC Advanced training in Special Manufacturing for dairy plants. Licensed companies are encouraged to express their interest to IDA for FoSTaC training by its empanelled trainers who are highly qualified, experienced and certified by the FSSAI. The training facility may be made available on-site or elsewhere depending upon the convenience of dairy processing establishments.