Sangrur: Health authorities raid ‘spurious’ milk manufacturing unit at Dirba

Sushil Goyal

Sangrur, July 17

A team of district health officials, led by Sangrur District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Baljit Singh, raided a milk centre and its godown at Dirba, about 25 km from here, today. The team collected five samples of the material being used, allegedly for manufacturing ‘spurious’ milk.

Talking to The Tribune, Sangrur DHO Dr Baljit Singh said they had been getting complaints from Dirba with regard to the manufacturing of ‘spurious milk’ by a milk centre there. He said the department acted upon the complaints, adding that the department, along with Food Safety Officer Charanjit Singh, raided the milk centre, situated on Gamri Road at Dirba, today. He said they collected samples of cheese and milk from the centre.

The DHO said the milk centre’s owner had also rented a room as a godown in an ice factory, situated on the Dirba-Kohrian road at Dirba. He said the owner of the centre had rented the godown to store raw materials, including refined oil, skimmed milk powder, and sorbitol. He said the team found 278 tin containers of refined oil, 13 packets of skimmed milk powder, 100 litres of sorbitol, and 70 empty tin containers in the room.

He said about 3.5 quintals of cheese had been preserved in a container, and after sealing the container, it had been kept in the cold storage of the milk centre. Besides, the 278 tin containers of refined oil, 13 packets of skimmed milk powder, and 100 litres of sorbitol had been kept in the rented room of the ice factory, which had been sealed, he added.

Dr Baljit Singh said the team collected samples of refined oil, skimmed milk powder, and sorbitol. He said all the samples, including cheese and milk, would be sent to the Kharar Food Laboratory for testing, adding that the lab has been requested to provide reports on the samples as soon as possible. He said necessary steps would be taken in the case after receiving the reports of the samples from the lab.