| Abstract: |
LAHORE: Following the statement of Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development secretary in a parliamentary committee that “all packaged milk is fake”, Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America Country Director Prof Javaid Awan said the issue lies in loose milk, not the packaged milk. Expressing concern over the secretary’s statement, Prof Awan, a food technologist, said that most packaged milk in Pakistan is being processed by reputed national and international companies that follow standards and quality as approved by the Pakistan Standards Quality Control Authority (PSQCA). The director further said these companies contribute 11 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP and with such huge investment they cannot afford to provide a substandard product. In order to ensure milk quality, especially in terms of adulteration and food safety hazards, Prof Awan said: “The milk is collected at village level (MCC) where it is stored in a farm cooling tank which keeps it cool right after milking. It is transferred from MCC (after testing) in cleaned stainless steel (SS) tankers and transported to main collection centre where milk is subjected to numerous (up to 30 in some cases) qualitative and quantitative tests. |
