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Is pasteurised milk safe?

BFSA collecting samples for testing

Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) yesterday began collecting samples of pasteurised milk from different retail stores of Dhaka to check whether it's safe.
"We have already formed a committee. It has started collecting pasteurised milk. We would test the samples at our designated laboratories and then prepare a report to be submitted to the High Court," said Mohammad Mahfiizul Hoque, chairman ofBFSA.
BFSA Member Monzur Morshed Ahmed is heading the committee comprised of representatives from icddr,b, food ministry, Food and Agriculture Organization, Bangladesh Standards Testing Institution (BSTI), Department of Livestock Services, milk companies and media.
A total of 120 samples of pasteurised milk will
be collected and tested at the laboratories, an official of the food ministry said.
"Initially, we will test the pasteurised milk. Then we will conduct a thorough testing of milk - beginning from the farm to the retail level - to examine the leaks in the whole supply chain," Mahfuzul Hoque said.
The initiative comes following a High Court order on May 21, directing the government to form an expert committee to test the pasteurised milk available in the market and submit a report in a month.
Around 77 percent of pasteurised milk samples assessed in a study in 2011 and 2012 were found to have high levels of bacteria, making direct consumption of such milk unsafe, according to an icddr,b study published in the International Journal ofFood Microbiology on April 24.
Consumption of such contaminated milk without thorough boiling can cause various diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and typhoid, said Mohammad Aminul Islam, associate scientist and head of the Food Microbiology Laboratory at icddr.b.
Even if high-level bacteria contaminated milk is boiled and consumed, its nutrition level is compromised, he said.
Against this backdrop, BFSA yesterday held a meeting with the experts, pasteurised
milk company officials, and department of livestock officials at its office in the city yesterday.
The milk company representatives observed that the icddr.b study was conducted in 2011 and 2012 and the situation has improved.
In response, icddr,b scientist Aminul Islam said they have recent surveillance data on pasteurised milk, but that does not show any change in the scenario.
Dr AHM Saiful Islam Khan, principal scientist at the Department of Livestock, said a major problem is that sometimes it takes six to seven hours to transport the raw milk from the production level to the chilling points. During this time, it may be contaminated.
Also, farmers in many cases are not used to maintaining hygienic practices during the milking and transportation period.
BFSA Member Monzur Morshed Ahmed said it is important to ensure chilling of the milk shortly after milking.
Mahfuzul Hoque said the milk companies are responsible to ensure full safety of pasteurised milk - beginning from the farm to the retail shops. Retailers also need to be brought under surveillance, he said.
"We will provide necessary support. We want our industries to grow, but also to maintain highest level of safety," he said.