LAHORE: Reports filed by different government departments with the Supreme Court on Thursday questioned quality standards of packed as well as loose milk and bottled water available in the market.

One of the reports filed on behalf of Punjab livestock and dairy development secretary also questioned efficacy of an analysis conducted in 2010 by a foreign laboratory of all brands of packed milk and tea whiteners’ samples.

Eleven milk samples of different brands were sent to Eurofins laboratory in Germany on the direction of then judge of the Lahore High Court, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, now senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court.

The reports were submitted before a two-judge bench of the apex court hearing an appeal of Watan Party’s Barrister Zafarullah Khan at the Lahore registry. The bench comprised Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik.

The livestock department’s report reveals that the 2010 analysis by the foreign lab confirmed presence of “Formaldehydes” (gas liquid) in all the samples. It says the samples were sent to the laboratory in packed condition.

It further says the lab reports did not properly address the real question whether the products fall within the definition of “milk” as described under the national and international standards as nutritional contents like milk fat, protein and lactose had not been determined to ensure whether these nutrients were within standard ranges.

The report maintains that the result of the 11 samples indicated that these were not of milk but have been made to look like the natural product with a high concentration of fat.

Answering a court query about use of steroid/hormone injections to boost milk production of cows or buffaloes, the livestock department claims that except Punjab, the hormone (rBST) is being used in other parts of the country.

“Extra hormonal (rBST) intake in human beings was resulting into extremely deadly carcinogenic effects caused due to insulin-like growth factor due to which the same could never get permission in the EU, Japan and Canada,” it says.

The report states the Punjab government got it (rBST) de-registered following a highly-contested litigation before the high court and Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan. The hormonal injection used for milk enhancement is very lethal as it ultimately kills the animal by causing cancer and metabolic disorders prematurely, it adds.

A report submitted on behalf of Punjab specialised healthcare and medical education department states that the Pakistan Council of Research in Water (PCRWR) is undertaking the task of monitoring bottled water both for chemical as well as bacteriological contamination.

According to the council’s latest report, of total 111 brands samples collected for examination, 89 (80 per cent) were overall safe, 22 (20pc) overall unsafe, 92 (83pc) chemically safe and 19 (17pc) were chemically unsafe, while two (3pc) were microbiologically unsafe brands.

The livestock department rules out possibility of use of steroid/hormones in poultry feed, saying dynamics of poultry industry had entirely changed.

During the hearing, Punjab Food Authority Director Ayesha Mumtaz told the bench that the authority recently sealed two “power milk” companies.

The bench directed the director to submit record of action taken against the companies involved in producing substandard packed milk. The bench would resume hearing on Friday (today).

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2016