Only 10 percent of people are provided with pure natural milk in Pakistan and the other 90 percent of people’s inability to have fresh and unadulterated milk is the reason that leads to many health issues. The unchecked sale of adulterated milk is causing serious health problems to the masses.
Milk is one of the most important natural food consumed by humans. It contains vitamins, enzymes, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Milk is an ideal food for people of all ages. It strengthens the bones, teeth, muscles. Moreover, it lowers the risk of heart diseases, cancer, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis. All these milk benefits can be obtained by consuming pure milk. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, more than 50 percent of milk dealers and more than 80 percent of companies are selling unhealthy milk and dairy products.
The main reasons behind the delivery of contaminated milk are that it is stored in barrels that are used to transport chemicals. Preservatives and chemicals are added to keep it good for a longer period. Contaminated water is added to increase the milk quantity. Adulterants like urea, formalin, detergents, ammonium sulphate, acids, hydrogen peroxide, sugars, and melamine are added to the milk that has some serious adverse health effects.
Recently, the Punjab Health Authority tested around 52 samples of milk collected from all parts of the province and only 27 of them were good enough to be consumed. In KPK, the situation was even deplorable and the majority of the consumption was of unhealthy milk. According to another survey, 12 most famous packaged milk brands were involved in adulteration of milk. The official report stated that only two milk brands were found safe to be consumed out of 200 brands tested.
We buy packaged milk from shops by trusting the milk brands. Although its packaging is ISO certified and the color of milk looks pure, but the reality is that highly harmful chemicals are added to give its good natural look. Toddlers and kids are given such milk by their mothers which leads to many deadly diseases later in their life like hepatitis, bone diseases, skin problems, and prostate cancer.
It is nothing new to add water to pure milk to increase its quantity. In can be noticed by the lightness of milk, but the milk providers have now started to add new chemicals like soap, formalin, and washing powder and urea to make the milk thick again and therefore these adulteration goes unnoticed. The causes are diarrhea, typhoid, allergies, cancer, and brucellosis.
Milk is the most consumed natural product and it is used to make many other dairy products. Therefore, contaminated milk will only make other contaminated dairy products. Companies and local milk dealers do all these criminal activities to make more profit from selling less pure milk. Poverty stricken society of Pakistan have no other option but to continue buying them. Food authorities are least concerned with these criminal activities done by milk sellers and famous companies. The government needs to devise a plan to crack down on the unchecked sale of adulterated milk, bring all these companies and milk sellers under the law and heavily fine them for noncompliance.
