Imported worries over milk
Monday, 20 October 2008
Shamsul Huq Zahid
Consumers are confused over the results of the laboratory tests conducted on eight out of a large number of powdered milk brands available in the local markets.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) following the media reports on the marketing of imported powdered milk and baby foods without proper registration picked up samples of eight brands of milk powder from the market and sent the same to three separate laboratories to ascertain the existence of melamine.
The test done at the BSTI's own laboratory and at a private one showed identical result; only one brand imported from China was found melamine-positive. But the tests done at the laboratory of the Dhaka University chemistry department found melamine in all the samples sent by the BSTI.
Meanwhile, a couple of producers of the brands in question have dismissed the test results claiming that the milk powder produced and marketed by them do not contain melamine, a chemical used in the production of plastic materials.
But the DU chemistry department is sticking to its test results, claiming that their findings are 100 per cent correct as the method-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-they had used for testing a high quality one.
The DU chemistry department chairman who was involved in the milk samples' tests told newsmen last Saturday that they would not have disclosed the test results without being 100 per cent sure since both babies who consume powdered milk and traders and manufacturers who deal in the same were equally important.
The test results have put the consumers in a quandary. They cannot be certain about the purity of any of the milk powder brands available in the market. Nor they can be sure about the authenticity of the results conducted by local laboratories.
Besides, the decision of the BSTI to examine only eight of a large number of milk powder brands sold in the local market has also made many to raise their eyebrows. Meanwhile, the government, as a precautionary measure, has advised the consumers not to consume the eight brands found melamine-positive by the Dhaka University chemistry department.
All these developments have prompted many consumers to stop buying powdered milk brands and switch over to liquid milk. The retailers in different markets have reported a significant decline in the demand for powdered milk in recent weeks. Such a switchover by the consumers to the liquid form of milk is quite natural. But is the liquid milk safe for consumption?
It is hard to give an answer without the laboratory test results on liquid milk being marketed by different companies or individuals.
No consumer would mind the existence of a small quantity of water-of course it has to be pure, added by the sellers to liquid milk. But the problem is that one cannot rule out the existence something more than water in liquid milk.
Some days back, a Bengali daily reported that the mixing of a few drops of melamine in milk by the traders and vendors is being widely practiced these days for protecting milk from being spoiled. The wholesale milk traders at the city's Raisaheb Bazaar admitted to the government agencies concerned about the use of formalin in milk.
Besides, the possibility of the existence of melamine in liquid milk market by different companies cannot be ruled out, for companies marketing liquid milk have the habit of liquefying the powdered milk and then market the same as 'pure locally produced liquid cow milk'. During the anti-adulteration drive carried out during the rule of the immediate past political government, the largest marketer of liquid milk, the Milk Vita Cooperative, was fined by a magistrate for adding powdered milk in liquid milk and poor hygienic condition at their Mirpur installation.
This is not to scare anybody. There is no guarantee that the powdered milk used in the liquid milk does not contain melamine. The businessmen have the habit of procuring goods from the cheapest source and China remains to be at the top of the table for most consumer goods, including powdered milk. It is not unlikely that the companies marketing liquid milks procure powdered milk from China in bulk quantities or buy the same from the local importers. Who knows?
The same might have happened in case of companies marketing instant powdered milk in the local markets in cans and packets. The problem with companies marketing milk powder 'produced in Denmark, Australia and New Zealand' is that they have local packaging facilities. The possibility of mixing cheap Chinese milk powder with that from the above-mentioned countries by the local marketing companies cannot be ruled out. The greed factor has always been very strong among the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. The original companies abroad may or may not be aware of the mischief. Yet they cannot avoid their responsibility.
Actually, no one knows who is doing what. This is a free-for-all country, particularly in areas of imports, manufacturing and marketing of goods that concern human health. The people employed in government agencies are being paid their salaries from the government exchequer only to remain indifferent to the developments taking around them and swing into action late.
The BSTI, compared to its responsibilities, is an incapable entity. It has neither resources nor competent manpower to cope with the situation where the demand for protecting the consumers' welfare is growing everyday. The government must do something to make the institute truly capable and efficient to meet the demand of the time.
Meanwhile, the government has to come to a decision on the test results of the eight brands of powdered milk. Actually, the BSTI should have sent the samples of brands of powdered milk for testing. The BSTI decision to skip a few brands appears rather mysterious.
It is time for the government to decide on the content of the message it must convey to the worried mothers and other consumers without any delay. It should tell the consumers about the brands that are safe to consume. At the same time, it should conduct tests on different brands of liquid milk and initiate stern actions against traders using formalin in milk.
zahid@yahoo.com
Consumers are confused over the results of the laboratory tests conducted on eight out of a large number of powdered milk brands available in the local markets.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) following the media reports on the marketing of imported powdered milk and baby foods without proper registration picked up samples of eight brands of milk powder from the market and sent the same to three separate laboratories to ascertain the existence of melamine.
The test done at the BSTI's own laboratory and at a private one showed identical result; only one brand imported from China was found melamine-positive. But the tests done at the laboratory of the Dhaka University chemistry department found melamine in all the samples sent by the BSTI.
Meanwhile, a couple of producers of the brands in question have dismissed the test results claiming that the milk powder produced and marketed by them do not contain melamine, a chemical used in the production of plastic materials.
But the DU chemistry department is sticking to its test results, claiming that their findings are 100 per cent correct as the method-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-they had used for testing a high quality one.
The DU chemistry department chairman who was involved in the milk samples' tests told newsmen last Saturday that they would not have disclosed the test results without being 100 per cent sure since both babies who consume powdered milk and traders and manufacturers who deal in the same were equally important.
The test results have put the consumers in a quandary. They cannot be certain about the purity of any of the milk powder brands available in the market. Nor they can be sure about the authenticity of the results conducted by local laboratories.
Besides, the decision of the BSTI to examine only eight of a large number of milk powder brands sold in the local market has also made many to raise their eyebrows. Meanwhile, the government, as a precautionary measure, has advised the consumers not to consume the eight brands found melamine-positive by the Dhaka University chemistry department.
All these developments have prompted many consumers to stop buying powdered milk brands and switch over to liquid milk. The retailers in different markets have reported a significant decline in the demand for powdered milk in recent weeks. Such a switchover by the consumers to the liquid form of milk is quite natural. But is the liquid milk safe for consumption?
It is hard to give an answer without the laboratory test results on liquid milk being marketed by different companies or individuals.
No consumer would mind the existence of a small quantity of water-of course it has to be pure, added by the sellers to liquid milk. But the problem is that one cannot rule out the existence something more than water in liquid milk.
Some days back, a Bengali daily reported that the mixing of a few drops of melamine in milk by the traders and vendors is being widely practiced these days for protecting milk from being spoiled. The wholesale milk traders at the city's Raisaheb Bazaar admitted to the government agencies concerned about the use of formalin in milk.
Besides, the possibility of the existence of melamine in liquid milk market by different companies cannot be ruled out, for companies marketing liquid milk have the habit of liquefying the powdered milk and then market the same as 'pure locally produced liquid cow milk'. During the anti-adulteration drive carried out during the rule of the immediate past political government, the largest marketer of liquid milk, the Milk Vita Cooperative, was fined by a magistrate for adding powdered milk in liquid milk and poor hygienic condition at their Mirpur installation.
This is not to scare anybody. There is no guarantee that the powdered milk used in the liquid milk does not contain melamine. The businessmen have the habit of procuring goods from the cheapest source and China remains to be at the top of the table for most consumer goods, including powdered milk. It is not unlikely that the companies marketing liquid milks procure powdered milk from China in bulk quantities or buy the same from the local importers. Who knows?
The same might have happened in case of companies marketing instant powdered milk in the local markets in cans and packets. The problem with companies marketing milk powder 'produced in Denmark, Australia and New Zealand' is that they have local packaging facilities. The possibility of mixing cheap Chinese milk powder with that from the above-mentioned countries by the local marketing companies cannot be ruled out. The greed factor has always been very strong among the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. The original companies abroad may or may not be aware of the mischief. Yet they cannot avoid their responsibility.
Actually, no one knows who is doing what. This is a free-for-all country, particularly in areas of imports, manufacturing and marketing of goods that concern human health. The people employed in government agencies are being paid their salaries from the government exchequer only to remain indifferent to the developments taking around them and swing into action late.
The BSTI, compared to its responsibilities, is an incapable entity. It has neither resources nor competent manpower to cope with the situation where the demand for protecting the consumers' welfare is growing everyday. The government must do something to make the institute truly capable and efficient to meet the demand of the time.
Meanwhile, the government has to come to a decision on the test results of the eight brands of powdered milk. Actually, the BSTI should have sent the samples of brands of powdered milk for testing. The BSTI decision to skip a few brands appears rather mysterious.
It is time for the government to decide on the content of the message it must convey to the worried mothers and other consumers without any delay. It should tell the consumers about the brands that are safe to consume. At the same time, it should conduct tests on different brands of liquid milk and initiate stern actions against traders using formalin in milk.
zahid@yahoo.com