KATHMANDU, AUG 01 -The sub-committee on labour, transport, industry, commerce and supplies under the parliament’s Finance and Labour Relations Committee inspected the milk processing units of two companies, Kathmandu Dairy and Sitaram Gokul Milks Kathmandu, on Monday. Suspecting the companies of selling adulterated milk containing hazardous chemicals, the lawmakers and government officials has confiscated 11 sacks of caustic soda and five sacks of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) from them.
Caustic soda, whose chemical name is Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), is a caustic metallic base. It is used in many industries, mostly as a strong chemical base in the manufacture of pulp and paper, textiles, drinking water, soaps and detergents and as a drain cleaner.
Workers in both companies said that they used the soda only for cleaning purposes. However, the lawmakers said that there was a possibility the chemical was being mixed with the milk.
The monitoring team, comprising lawmakers, representatives from the District Administration Office, Department of Commerce, Consumer Rights Forum and Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has also asked the two dairy producers not to use the caustic soda for any purpose until the committee reaches another decision. During the inspection, the team had found 69 sacks of caustic soda at Sitaram Gokul Milks Kathmandu and 11 and a half sacks at Kathmandu Dairy.
“We have sent samples of the dairy products to the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control for lab tests,” said Shanti Basnet Adhikari, coordinator of the sub-committee. “The companies will be punished as per the law if they are found mixing any type hazardous chemicals.”
The monitoring team has collected samples of curd, ghee, milk and ice cream for lab tests. It has also asked the owners of the two companies to be present at the meeting of the sub-committee to be held Tuesday afternoon. Sitaram Gokul Milks, a subsidiary of the Kedia Group, is one of the largest producers of dairy products in the country with a production capacity of 35,000 litres of milk daily.
“This is just the beginning. We will continue market monitoring along with the concerned government authorities in other sectors too,” said Adhikari. She added that effective market monitoring has become a must to control food adulteration and artificial price hikes with the festive season approaching.
On Sunday, the finance committee, based on the recommendations of its sub-committee, had also directed the government to maintain sufficient stocks of essential goods to ensure smooth supply and check artificial price hikes. It said that ill practices in the market had been increasing due to lack of effective market monitoring and failure to take strict action against offenders.
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