Kathmandu Dairy Fails to Meet Minimum Fat Content Standards; 519 Crates of Milk Blocked

Kathmandu. Sitaram Gokul Milks located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, has been found selling milk that does not meet the minimum standards set by the government.

During an inspection conducted by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, 519 crates of milk were stopped from distribution after the processed milk from the industry was found to have significantly low fat content.

According to the department, this discrepancy was found during a routine inspection conducted yesterday, Monday. The Government of Nepal has set a mandatory standard requiring processed milk to have a minimum of 3.0 percent fat content. However, the milk from Sitaram Gokul Milks, batch no. 2861 (production date 2082-12-02), was found to have only 1.4 percent fat content, the department stated.

The department's press note mentioned that the industry's logbook also recorded only 1.4 percent fat, and testing in the industry's own laboratory confirmed the fat content was below the government standard.

519 Crates of Milk Held

The department has directed that 519 crates of milk (20 packets of 500 milliliters per crate), which were ready for sale in the cold storage, be held and not distributed, in accordance with Section (33) of the 'Food Hygiene and Quality Act, 2081'.

According to the department's spokesperson, Dr. Bal Kumari Sharma, samples from that batch of milk have been collected and sent to the laboratory for further investigation. The department has informed that legal action will be initiated against those producing and distributing substandard food items.