Kerala launches Onam milk testing and 24/7 border screening

The campaign runs from Thursday through Monday through the District Quality Control Laboratory in Pattom. Department technicians are testing both packaged products and loose milk sold through retail outlets, with compositional checks covering statutory fat and solids-not-fat requirements.

Laboratory analysis is intended to detect dilution with excess water as well as chemical alteration. The listed targets include urea, neutralisers, detergents, hydrogen peroxide and synthetic fats.

Milk found to be substandard, chemically altered or unsuitable for consumption will be handed to the Food Safety Department. The department may then begin seizures and legal proceedings under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The testing service is also open to consumers and local dairy farmers. They may submit at least 200ml of milk, or sealed retail packets, to the Pattom laboratory for free physicochemical examination. Officials said the arrangement allows households and primary producers to check samples and report suspect products.

Separate monitoring is taking place at Parassala, where a permanent facility operates around the clock at an interstate checkpoint. It examines tanker consignments as they enter Kerala, extending surveillance beyond retail inspections.

Kerala’s cooperative producer, Milma, does not fully meet demand during the Onam period, when daily consumption can rise to three times its usual level, according to the department’s account. Supplies therefore also arrive in private tankers and packaged shipments from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The border facility is intended to screen these consignments during transit into the state.