Kerala has drawn up steps to ensure quality confirmation of milk and milk products being brought from Tamil Nadu.
The move follows a statement by Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Minister K.T. Rajendra Balaji that some private dairy companies in his State were adulterating milk. A quality control lab will start functioning at the Meenakshipuram check-post here on Friday.
Kerala is sourcing 60% of its milk, including milk products, requirement from Tamil Nadu. From now on, these products will be routed only through Meenakshipuram and subjected to quality tests at the round-the-clock lab. Hitherto, the Kerala Dairy Development Board did milk quality tests only during the ten peak days of the Onam festival season.
Dairy Development Minister K. Raju will inaugurate the lab at Meenakshipuram on Friday evening.
Sources said vehicles carrying milk would be allowed to enter Kerala only after quality checks. Apart from the standard of milk, the laboratory would also detect chemical content and presence of antibiotics in the consignment. The results would be generated within minutes to avoid long queues at the check-post.
Over five lakh litres of milk is being transported daily through the check-posts in Palakkad to the State. While vehicles carrying milk would be permitted only through the Meenakshipuram check-post, poultry bound for Kerala would be routed through the Nadupuni check-post for similar quality checks.
The permanent lab facility is now coming up in the backdrop of Tamil Nadu’s confirmation that milk transported out of the State contained formaldehyde.
“If we consume milk containing this preservative, it will lead to vomiting, ulcer, and, over a period, even cancer. So we are increasing the quality checks,” Mr. Raju told The Hindu .
“Milk kept at room temperature should ideally curdle in five hours. What is available from Tamil Nadu remain for 30-40 days,” said R. Prakash, a tea shop owner at Olavakode in Palakkad.
“Quality checks at the border itself will help us access quality milk,” he added.
Oncologists say although they have not come across cancer caused by adulterated milk, there are evidence that long-term exposure to chemicals in food, soft drinks, and water may cause cancers.
