The importation of milk concentrates at the expense of sourcing fresh milk from the local dairy industry in Zambia has raised concerns that the resultant re-constituted milk is being sold to unsuspecting customers as fresh milk and not clearly labeled as reconstituted milk.
And Lusaka City Council (LCC) Director of Public Health Christopher Mtonga has advised milk processors in Zambia to label all re-constituted milk in order to make consumers aware of what type of milk they are consuming. The top milk processor brands in Zambia include Trade King’s Dairy Gold, Varun’s Cream bell, Zambeef’s Zam-milk and Lactalis Parmalat.
Mtonga said all pre-packaged milk including re-constituted milk and fresh milk should be labelled as guided by the food safety regulations. He said milk processors should ensure that the standard of milk which include parameters such as labelling, nutritional status, expiry dates and manufacturing dates are followed.
According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mtonga said the council conducts inspection of such products and if the recommended standards and safety regulations are not met, the products are seized and destroyed.
He noted that milk processors submit samples to the lab for clearance as well as to the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) to ensure compliance with the Zambian standards before a permit to start producing is granted.
He said milk processors are well guided on the parameters such as ingredients, nutritional value and labelling which they need to meet before they can put out a product on the market. There is a risk of reputation damage if these regulations are not followed.
He advised the public not to buy food products which do not meet the required standard and asked food companies to comply with the labelling standards as guided by ZABS and the Food Safety Act or risk having their goods seized and destroyed.
Mtonga said the council also conducts inspections upon receiving complaints on the quality of milk and other food products from the media and the public, which it handles through investigations.
He mentioned that the council believes in an open door policy and has encouraged members of the public to report all complaints related to food safety in order to ensure that the products on the market meet the required standards.
Large scale Milk processing companies in Zambia have been accused of selling re-constituted milk in the place of fresh milk, which is a breach of good corporate citizenship as consumers buy this milk thinking is fresh milk when in fact not.
Moreover, the Dairy Association of Zambia – DAZ has revealed that huge quantities of locally produced fresh milk remains uncollected and wasted due to the large scale processors opting to import milk concentrates at the expense of developing local sourcing of fresh milk.
DAZ has complained that its members are ready to supply enough milk needed by the milk processing companies for both local consumption and export but have been let down due to this preference for imported milk concentrates being sold in the place of fresh milk and not clearly labeled.
The Zambian public are therefore made to believe that they are consuming fresh milk when in fact, it’s re-constituted milk made from concentrates. Some consumers have further complained that some milk products on the market are so adulterated and more of water than milk.
