RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The packaged milk industry has welcomed the government’s steps to ensure supply of quality milk to the consumers and is ready to share its value chain, quality maintenance and supply for assessment of standard and quality of milk.

Industry sources said that packaged milk industry has big names, both local and global.

The industry says that it only acquires milk that meets is standards and milk is kept cold through a cold chain until it reaches the plant and is then hygienically packed. Most of the industrialists also have their own quality labs and keep on getting their quality checked by accredited external labs, local or national.

One example is Nestlé Pakistan which says that its products are routinely tested using state-of-the-art reliable technology and equipment and it has never been found to have deviated from prescribed norms.

These tests are done both at third party international and local labs.

Though the company says it doesn’t release any batches without internal testing and keeps on sending samples to independent local and international labs, after the Supreme Court case started, they had the latest quality test conducted in December 2016 through accredited labs including EUROFIN Germany, TUV Singapore and SGS International and also from local labs like PCSIR, Lahore.

Waqar Ahmad, the Head of Corporate Affairs for Nestlé Pakistan said that all laboratories found their milk free of adulterants and fit for consumption.

All these results, according to the company, are a testament to the work that it does with a network of 140,000 farmers from Sindh to Punjab, collecting an average of 450 million litres of fresh milk every year, he said.

Waqar Ahmad said, “The quality maintenance would not have been possible without the continuous engagement we do throughout our value chain with the dairy farmers in order to help them improve their quality and yield quantity.”

To a query, he said that the loose market is unregulated and undocumented while the packaged milk industry is regulated and documented. It is easier to keep a check on packaged milk than loose. Perhaps that is why a lot of attention has been focused on packaged milk, whether pasteurized or UHT. 

When asked about the perception of packaged milk, he said, “We know it is not that positive in Pakistan and that is the one challenge the entire industry faces. That is why, Nestlé Pakistan being transparent has always welcomed everyone from consumers to government to media to visit our value chain and see for themselves the standards and quality we adhere to.”