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Scare over milk powder recedes as Lanka, NZ plan to increase local output
View(s):While the milk contamination scare was slowly fading away, Sri Lankan and New Zealand authorities this week began discussing plans to expand local liquid milk production and reduce dependence on imports which are mostly from New Zealand. Amidst a flurry of activity on the milk issue, Sri Lanka was also assured of the attendance of the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo in November.
During a meeting between New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on Friday, the visiting envoy had suggested that Mr. Key – during his Colombo visit – and President Rajapaksa sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sealing New Zealand’s offer to help raise local liquid milk production and expand the local dairy sector, according to a statement from the President’s Office.
A few Commonwealth countries have said they are considering sending lower-level representation instead of the customary head of state of government attending, in protest over alleged human rights abuses by the Colombo Government which has sent envoys to many countries to invite leaders to attend the meeting.
These developments came as under-fire Fonterra, which reopened its factory on Tuesday after a 5-day suspension of work, discussed ways of regaining the confidence and trust of the people in its imported milk powder that has been embroiled in allegations of DCD contamination. “We are looking at ways and means of restoring the confidence and trust consumers have had in our milk for decades,” a source at the company said.
In another significant development, a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Senior Minister for Human Resources D.E.W. Gunasekara to examine the milk contamination issue has recommended an island-wide campaign to promote breast-feeding and consumption of locally-produced liquid milk, a new labelling system on products declaring they are free of DCD and clostridium bacteria and for the Ministry of Health to issue a newspaper notice explaining the entire milk issue and the new labelling system.
Separately, the Central Bank (CB) launched a scheme on Thursday through local banks offering loans of up to Rs 25 million per applicant aimed at converting small scale dairy farms to commercial scale dairy farms and increase local output. The CB said that Sri Lanka produces just one third of its milk requirement with more than US$300 million being spent on the import of milk and milk products, with foreign exchange needs going up further with the escalation of milk powder prices in the world market.
The CB, in a statement, also debunked the theory offered by an eminent group of doctors recently that milk is not an essential requirement. “Milk is an important ingredient in one’s day-to-day food consumption as it has the capacity of alleviating nutritional poverty in all age groups especially among pre-school children and mothers-to-be. In addition, milk self sufficiency serves to resolve the issues of food security,” the statement said.
Discussing current safety measures, Health Ministry sources said that all milk products imported from June 1 were removed from the shelves in the markets and tests are being carried out on them. “Once they are cleared, a sticker is placed on the products and they are returned to the shelves,” one ministry source said.
All consignments of imported milk powder are also being checked by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) prior to them being cleared for sale. “We will continue to test the products in the ports until we are ‘reasonably sure’ that no contaminated milk is being imported. When we are satisfied that the milk is safe, we will gradually relax the current procedures,” the source said.
Sources at Fonterra, which has a 60 percent share of the milk powder market, said most of its recent batches of milk have been cleared after ITI tests. They said the tests take a week for clearance to be given to Fonterra which has large milk powder consignments coming in once in two weeks.
The other recommendations of the Gunasekara-led Cabinet sub-committee include improving the capacity of local laboratories, including those at the Medical Research Institute (MRI) and the ITI, to meet the emerging demands; inspecting the complex and advanced food manufacturing plants in Sri Lanka by experts under the Chief Food Authority to ensure good manufacturing practices; action to strengthen the capacity of the Food Authority in terms of staff and other facilities; amend the Food Act to address the existing and emerging food safety issues effectually; purchase a Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS/MS) for the ITI; withdraw all imported milk products suspected to be contaminated with DCD and ensure closer collaboration between the Ministry of Health, the Consumer Affairs Authority and the ITI when addressing issues of this nature.
It also recommended action to introduce a methodology to carry out Food Safety Hazards Tests prior to clearance of goods by the Customs, jointly by the Sri Lanka Customs, the MRI and the ITI in keeping with international standards.
- ENDS