MILK FEDERATIONS FOCUS MORE ON REMOVING ADULTERANTS LIKE UREA AND DETERGENT THAN CHECKING ANTIBIOTIC PRESENCE

resistance adulterants like urea, detergent and starch than on checking antibiotic presence.

Responding to an email, Shabnam Chopra, in-charge of quality assurance at Parag, claimed the company has not reported any case of antibiotic residue. “We have upgraded our major dairy laboratories. These laboratories have been provided with antibiotic testing kits. Testing is done route-wise for incoming milk. Once in six months we get our milk and milk products checked for nutritional values, pathogens, antibiotic residues and veterinary drug residues. Qualitative testing is used for antibiotics testing,” she wrote.

Similarly, T Thirupathappa, who is the additional director of quality assurance at Karnataka Milk Federation, that markets milk under the brand name Nandini, told CSE, “Milk is tested for antibiotics once in six months. Testing is done at NABL-accredited lab as per ISO standards.” Similar frequency of testing was cited by officials at milk federations in Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana which sell brands Saras, Verka and Vita respectively.

“Testing of antibiotics in milk which gets pooled cannot be done with the lab infrastructure that we have,” says representative of Gwalior Sahakari Dugdha Sangh who did not wish to be named. The body is affliliated to Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation Limited, that sells milk under the brand name Sanchi. “Testing requires high-end equipment from certified labs,” he said.

Some cooperatives, however, said they conduct frequent testing. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, which sells India’s largest and most popular brand, Amul, is an example. “Milk from all tankers is tested for antibiotic residues on a daily basis though FSSAI recommends less frequent testing. A kit-based quantitative method is used to test about 700 samples each day at a rate `1,000 per sample,” says Sameer Saxena, senior manager, quality assurance, Amul. It procures about 23 million litres of milk every day. “No antibiotic is found in samples taken from tankers as milk gets pooled from multiple societies,” he