A nationwide survey on milk quality and safety conducted by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) found 92% of loose milk samples to be non-compliant with quality and safety parameters. Moreover, 54% of milk samples were found unfit for human consumption. Five quality and safety parameters were tested for compliance with regulatory limits. These included composition, adulteration, antibiotic residues, aflatoxin M1, and heavy metals. Loose milk was largely found to be non-compliant with these parameters.
Adulteration of milk is an open secret but the practice goes on for decades unchecked because of lack of vigilance and proper regulatory mechanism. The situation is alarming as in Pakistan, which is the fourth-largest milk-producing country in the world, ninety-five percent of the milk consumed is loose milk, and it reaches the end consumer for immediate consumption through the informal multi-layered distribution system of middlemen (milkmen). This traditional loose milk supply chain system is unorganized and non-regulated, thus the quality of milk is hardly maintained which results in serious food safety issues at the consumer level. The study reveals in addition to microbial contamination, residues from antimicrobial drugs, pesticide residues, mycotoxins, heavy metals and adulterants have also been found in loose milk that pose serious risks to the health of the general public. Apart from loose milk, the way all types of milk are collected and mixed also raise serious questions about the quality and nutritional value of the packaged milk. The practice of adulteration is so widespread and the milk mafia is so powerful that a crackdown launched by a government in the past had to be abandoned midway under their pressure and lobbying. However, the latitude demonstrated by the federal and provincial governments towards this crime means they are also to be blamed for causing health hazards to the general public. The situation becomes all the more alarming as rates of both loose and packaged milk are revised upward frequently while the quality deteriorates further. A sustained campaign is needed to eliminate the menace of milk adulteration.
