2019 – Posted in: Daily News

National Milk Sample Safety Quality Survey

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered:

Key findings of the National milk sample safety quality survey
What is Aflatoxin (AFM1)?

News Flash

The country’s food regulator FSSAI has said that nearly 93 percent of the milk samples tested under the National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018 were found to be safe for consumption.

Only 7 percent of the samples tested were found to have safety issues largely due to presence of contaminants such as Aflatoxin-M1, pesticides and antibiotics.

Background

The survey was conducted from May 2018 to October 2018 covering all states and UTs.
This is the first-of-its-kind comprehensive survey Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has conducted through a third-party agency.

Survey findings

Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Kerala were the top three states with the highest levels of Aflatoxin M1 resides.
Madhya Pradesh topped the list for antibiotics.
7.1 percent of samples were found to be unsafe due to contaminants such as Aflatoxin-M1, antibiotics or pesticides.
Of these 7.1 percent, only 12 samples were found to have been “deliberately adulterated” through the use of adulterants such as urea, hydrogen peroxide, detergent or urea.
The adulteration was mainly on account of low fat or low SNF (solid non-fat) or both.
In terms of safety parameters, 4% of the total processed milk samples failed to comply with the FSSAI norm.

Aflatoxin- (AFM1)

Aflatoxin-M1, a deadly carcinogen, is a contaminant that comes in the milk through poor storage practices of animal feed and fodder. It is a chemical compound of the aflatoxin class, a group of mycotoxins produced by three species of Aspergillus – Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, and the rare Aspergillus nomius – which contaminate plant and plant products.

Aflatoxins are toxins produced by certain fungi which are generally found in agricultural crops like maize, peanuts, cottonseed and others. They are carcinogenic in nature, which means they can cause cancer.

Way ahead

To address these issues, FSSAI and the government are instituting a scheme for testing and sampling for organised dairy players. The scheme will be implemented from January 1, 2020. The scheme stipulates sampling points during various stages of milk processing, test methods and frequency of sampling.

Source: The Hindu Businessline