Assam: Sale of sophisticated powder to make artificial milk

There have been reports of rise in the sale of sophisticated powder to manufacture artificial milk in Assam’s Dhubri district, calling for immediate action against businesses involved in the adulteration.

After a sting operation, it was discovered that few businessmen in Dhubri were selling a sophisticated powder used to manufacture artificial milk. As a result, the Food Safety Department’s attempt to assess milk quality, which is actually a farce, became the subject of public discussion in Dhubri.

It is also worth mentioning here that for a long time, IndiaTodayNE reporter in Dhubri has been suspecting that unscrupulous milk traders are selling a special powder product in place of milk.

Following which in a secret camera, when asked about the powder to a person pulling a hand cart (thela wala), who was transporting a few sacks of ‘Skimmed Milk Powder’ to a ghat along with other items, he said that the majority of the milk people drink and the tea sold by vendors are made up of this powder. He also mentioned that where the powder is being sold and who deals with it.

Every day, hundreds of litres of cow and buffalo milk are brought into the city by numerous milk vendors from the various char areas surrounding Dhubri. However, neither the district administration nor the Food Safety Department have ever checked the milk’s purity.

Accordingly, the milk is sold in a variety of marketplaces across the town of Dhubri, while some milk vendors selling it door to door. Additionally, the majority of the city’s small and large tea-and-sweet stores, restaurants, etc. purchase milk from milk vendors which come from char areas.

However, since there is no minimum equipment to determine the quality of milk, informed the food safety department’s authorities which has actually emerged among the public as a vacuum.

The question that now needs to be answered is if the administration or the food safety department has taken seriously note of a serious problem like the dishonest milk vendors who sell in the city without any restrictions by blending different chemicals and powders or not.

It may be recalled that on July 2, a milk vendor was found to be mixing chemicals in milk on the roadside in front of Kachari Parghat in Dhubri. The incident triggered widespread reaction among people from all walks of life in Dhubri over what is being sold in the name of milk.