PANAJI: In what can send chill down the milk consumers’ spine, it has come to light that the milk packets that are bought in the morning from booths/retail outlets arrive in the state late the previous evening raising doubts over its freshness and quality.
Milk consignments arrive at the wholesalers and distributors in the evening around 9 pm almost 8 hours before it gets dispatched to the booths/retailers.
This reporter traced some milk-laden vehicles in the city on Friday evening which arrived from Karnataka. It was found that the milk carrying vans started arriving at around 9 pm at distributors where the crates full of milk packets were unloaded and kept in the open. The same consignment is dispatched to retailers the next morning between 5 to 6 am.
Milk from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat is in transit for about 12 to 16 hours and after arriving at the delivery point in Goa, it is kept for another 8 hours and ultimately reaches retailers and consumers at least over 20 hours after getting dispatched from the processing units.
A wholesaler, on conditions of anonymity, said that those who were receiving the milk consignment the previous evening in thousands of litres do not have refrigeration facilities at their disposal to store such a large quantity of milk.
“They store some milk packets in refrigerator but lack enough storage capacity. Hence some crates containing milk packets are stored in ice which is sometimes not enough or sometimes also stored without ice, but the question arises as to for how long the ice can remain in solid form and for how long milk stays fresh,” he quipped.
The wholesaler said that majority of Goans prefer milk of a top brand of the country and he claimed that it was most unsafe for human consumption.
“People today go by the brand name, and they prefer this particular brand. However, I feel their choice is mostly unsafe as the transportation of the particular brand takes 12-16 hours. Moreover, there is no guarantee on maintenance of the prescribed temperatures. I have always been advising people to buy Goa Dairy’s milk packets as the transportation from the processing plant takes just an hour,” he said.
Sources in the Food and Drugs Administration said that even if the milk packets were arriving in the state in insulated vehicles, they ought to maintain the temperature prescribed by the concerned brand.
“Insulated vehicles don’t guarantee that particular temperature is maintained. The government should ensure that the vehicles in which milk is imported have a temperature indicator which shows actual temperature inside the vehicle, not all vehicles with insulation facility has this,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, taking cognizance of ‘The Navhind Times’ report on milk transportation, the FDA on early Friday morning swung into action and raided various wholesalers, distributors, and agents in and around Panaji including the vehicles in which milk packets were arriving at various places in the city.
Sources informed that notices have been issued to various wholesalers, distributors, and agents under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Act for operating without silence.
