HC seeks govt reply on plea alleging adulteration of milk

The Bombay High Court today asked the Maharashtra government and Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to enumerate steps taken by them to prevent adulteration of milk, in the interest of children's health and public safety.
A bench headed by Justice Naresh Patil issued notice to the state government and FDA Commissioner on a public interest litigation filed by retired colonel Chandraskhekhar Unni alleging milk adulteration.
The notices have been made returnable after two weeks.
The HC sought to know from the authorities how many food inspectors are available and what procedures are followed to check milk adulteration.
The PIL alleged that milk is usually adulterated with water, starch and urea which becomes detrimental to the health of children and people at large.

Infants drink plenty of milk and adulteration in this food item can cause a lot of damage to public health, the PIL said while seeking a direction to the authorities to curb this illegal practice.
The petitioner said he had come across reports that Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) has alleged that adulterated milk was being supplied to consumers. MGP is an NGO and had recently undertaken a research on quality of milk supplied to people and public hygiene, the petition added.