‘Soda’ scam hits demand for packaged milk

Kathmandu, June 21

Dairy entrepreneurs have claimed that sales of pasteurised milk have come down since the past week following the recent ‘soda scam’.

An inspection carried out in the dairy firms by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DoFTQC) last week had found that different brands of packaged milk being sold in the domestic market were adulterated with various chemicals including washing soda.

Following this, consumers have become reluctant in consuming packaged milk, dairy entrepreneurs said.

“Consumption of packaged milk has come down by more than 30 per cent since last week,” informed Praladh Dahal, general secretary of Nepal Dairy Association (NDA).

As per NDA statistics, almost five million litres of milk is consumed across the country every day.

However, Dahal cited that traces of soda and other chemicals found in pasteurised milk is not the fault of dairy firms as such chemicals are mixed at the milk collection centres.

“As the temperature has been soaring in recent days, both farmers and milk collection centres use such chemical ingredients to prevent milk from curdling,” informed Dahal.

Dahal urged the government to adopt measures to prevent the use of washing soda in packaged milk by farmers and milk collection centres.

Earlier last week, DoFTQC had collected 42 samples of packaged milk from 25 dairy companies. When the samples were tested, a majority of these milk samples were found to have used chemical ingredients including sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), bicarbonate and sodium carbonate.

Meanwhile, the government is preparing to develop a guideline to check the quality of milk in the domestic market following perennial complaints that packaged milk supplied in the market does not meet international quality standards.

A separate committee at the Ministry of Livestock Development (MoLD) is preparing the draft of a guideline on the quality of milk.

Currently, the government has been monitoring the quality of foods, including milk, based on the Food Act, 2028. However, the quality guidelines of foods incorporated in the Food Act, 2028, have become obsolete in the current context.