The initiative has been started and will continue till October, 766 districts across the country will be covered and 10,000 samples will be collected during the exercise
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has initiated a nationwide surveillance study on milk and milk products this month, in a bid to curb adulteration of such items, said an official of the country’s apex food regulator.
Satyen K Panda Advisor (Quality Assurance) FSSAI said, “The exercise will continue till October, and the regulator is expected to submit its report to the health ministry by December. The surveillance survey will cover around 766 districts across the country and over 10,000 samples will be collected during the exercise. Two agencies have been engaged for the purpose.”
Panda further added, “Quality Council of India, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the National Dairy Development Board will conduct the survey for FSSAI. The scope for the survey includes milk, khoya, paneer, ghee, butter, curd and ice cream. The test parameters are adulterants, normal quality and compositional parameters, contaminants, antibiotic residues and microbiological indicators.