CHENNAI: Aavin suppliers appear to be milking the system by watering down the fat standards for mitigating the rising input costs.
Suspected adulteration of milk through the addition of water has been detected at the producer level in at least five cooperative milk producers’ unions – Vellore, Virudhunagar, Thanjavur, Villupuram and Kanniyakumari – and in a few other districts as well.
A section of Aavin milk suppliers has allegedly diluted milk with water before supplying it to increase the quantity. As a result, a substantial portion of the milk procured from Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Vellore, Ranipet, Kanniyakumari, Villupuram and Virudhunagar districts, which supply these unions (from May 1 to 31), has failed to meet the minimum quality standards of 4% fat and 8% solids-not-fat (SNF), according to Aavin’s official records. The average per day procurement of Aavin is 32 lakh litres (during June).
Sources said under normal circumstances, only 10%-20% of milk procured in certain district unions fails to meet the prescribed minimum quality standards. However, in May, over 60% of the milk procured in 10 district unions did not meet the required quality norms. An official said that addition of water to milk is considered adulteration, as it can introduce foreign particles and contaminants into the milk.
According to the data, about 90% of the milk procured from the Kanniyakumari and Virudhunagar unions between May 1 and May 31 failed to meet the minimum quality standards of 4% fat and 8% SNF. About 6,300 litres was procured from Kanniyakumari and 16,100 litres from Virudhunagar union. Similarly, of the 94,000 litres of milk procured by the Vellore union between May 1 and May 31, around 84% had less than the minimum required 4% fat content, while 82% contained less than 8% SNF.
In the Thanjavur union, 37,100 litres of milk was procured during the period. However, only 38% met or exceeded the minimum 4% fat requirement, and just 37% had an SNF content of 8% or above. Likewise, nearly 78% of the 46,200 litres of milk procured in Villupuram contained less than the prescribed 4% fat content.
In contrast, official data revealed that 93% to 95% of the milk procured in the Karur and Tiruppur district unions complied with the quality requirements. An Aavin official told TNIE that the addition of water to milk is suspected to be a major reason for the reduced fat and SNF content.
“When milk contains less than 4% fat and 8% SNF, the cooperative federation incurs additional expenditure to purchase milk powder and butter to reconstitute the milk (to increase its fat, SNF levels) before manufacturing green magic and full cream milk variants, which require 4.5% and 6% fat content, respectively. District unions have been told to monitor the issue and prevent milk adulteration,” the official said.
M G Rajendran, president of the TN Milk Producers’ Welfare Association, attributed the trend to Aavin’s low procurement price, rising cattle feed costs and changes in cattle breeds. “Private dairies offer `6 to `12 more per litre than Aavin, prompting some dairy farmers to divert their milk to private players. In addition, some farmers may not be investing adequately in mineral mixtures and cattle feed due to rising input costs, which could have reduced the fat and SNF content,” he said.
Aavin currently procures cow milk at `38/L and buffalo milk at `47/L, including a `3 incentive, provided the milk meets the minimum quality standards of 4.3% fat and 8.2% SNF. Aavin MD Ajay Yadav could not be reached for comment.