City milk samples fail test

Pathogens like E.coli found in popular milk brands

Doubts are being raised about the quality and safety of milk being sold by wellknown diary companies in the state with reports from the State Food Laboratory suggesting that they are unsafe and could prove injurious to health.

According to the NGO AP Balala Hakkula Sangham, random milk packets marketed by different dairy companies were picked up from different stores in Tarnaka and submitted to the State Food Laboratory at Nacharam. Reports pertaining to five reputed dairy brands state that the milk is unsafe while four of them were injurious to health owing to the presence of pathogens like E.Coli. All of the samples failed the Total Plate count and Coliform count tests while four had presence of E.Coli and Salmonella.

Sailaja Devi, chief public analyst, Institute of Preventive Medicine, however, was non-committal about the reports and refused to draw any conclusions.

“We were given the samples by some private persons and have given the reports,” she said. She also suggested that sometimes milk is tampered with and that she can’t say for sure if the samples submitted were straight from the market.

Achyuta Rao, president, AP Balala Hakkula Sangham said a tip-off on the possibility of milk containing harmful pathogens was given by a doctor and they acted on the same.

A petition has also been filed by the AP Balala Hakkula Sangham with the State Human Rights Commission which has reportedly sought a reply from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.