In what comes as a major embarrassment for Tamil Nadu’s Dairy Development Ministry, the State Public Health Laboratory in Pune, denied having received any milk samples this year to check for toxicity.
Times of India reports that lab director DD Badkare said that the last sample the food testing laboratory received was in June 2016. The department, that falls within the purview of the Central Government, was reportedly given a sachet of whole milk by a private manufacturer for testing 'fat' content.
“There were no toxic chemicals in it. We have received no other sample from Tamil Nadu till date,“ the lab director told ToI.
Badkare however, did admit that the sachet of milk produced by SMD Homogenised Buffalo milk, failed the test because the lab found milk powder in the samples. In addition to this, he also confirmed to ToI, that curd cannot be turned into milk, as the Minister was claiming.
This revelation comes days after dairy development minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji claimed to have sent samples of privately produced milk to a Central lab in Pune. He alleged that his department suspected that toxic and carcinogenic substance are added to milk by private manufacturers to increase shelf life.
Bhalaji had also alleged that private milk manufacturers used formaldehyde in their product, a chemical commonly used to preserve bodies from decaying. When asked if this tirade against private firms was to force them to pay bribes, the Minister said, “If they prove there is no chemical content as alleged, then I am ready to resign. I am even ready to hang myself.”