Complaints of contaminated milk rendering several children ill poured in from different parts of the district over the last few days. Children started to vomit and some of them fell sick said villagers.
There are two milk chilling centers at Tirtol and Balikuda of Jagatsinghpur district which procure 87,000 liters of milk through different cooperative societies every day. Nearly 8,000 to 10,000 liters of milk are being processed and packed at Tirtol chilling plant and same milk packet is sent to Paradip, Kujang, Tirtol of Jagatsinghpur and others of Kendrapada district for daily consumption. Rest of the milk is supplied to OMFED milk plant, Bhubaneswar daily for processing and packing.
Sources said that SNF (Solid Not Fat) content of the milk has to be 8.5 per cent but the milk which has available in rural areas does not meet this standard and hence a powder is mixed to raise the SNF levels.
It is suspected that some contamination has taken place as the chemical powder used was allegedly sub-standard. Yesterday, five children of Kujang area started vomiting and fell unconscious after consuming milk. They were shifted to Kujang hospital for treatment. Doctors attending the children said all of them were out of danger and there was no cause for panic.
When contacted, district manger, OMFED, Mr Biren Pattnaik admitted having received complaints from the consumers. We have issued necessary instructions for supply of fresh milk and there is no reason to panic, he asserted.