LAHORE:The dairy safety teams of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) disposed of 377,000 litres of adulterated milk and imposed a fine of Rs 43.1 million during the ongoing operation against milk adulteration mafia the last month. PFA Director General Muhammad Asim Javaid said, in a statement, that the teams had inspected more than 43 million litres of milk while examining 19,600 milk shops and over 52,500 milk carrier vehicles in the province. He said that the competent authority discarded 9,425 maunds of impure milk after proving contamination of polluted water, hazardous ingredients, low levels of fats and a lack of nutritional values in milk during tests. He said that harmful ingredients were used to increase thickness and sustain fat level of milk.
He said that the use of tainted milk posed a threat to users’ health and caused stomach and intestinal diseases. Daily checks on milk quality were being done to ensure a safe supply of milk to every household in Punjab by placing screening pickets, he
added. The director general said that citizens could get milk tested free of cost by visiting the nearest PFA office with 200ml raw milk. He requested citizens to report adulterated milk suppliers on the Punjab Food Authority helpline 1223.