Alarm has spread across households in Karachi after a shocking revelation by the national standards body. Every single sample of milk collected from the city for testing has been declared unsafe for people to drink.
A Systemic Failure in the Supply Chain
The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) delivered this distressing finding in a report submitted to the Sindh High Court. The report paints a grim picture of negligence at multiple stages of the milk supply chain. It states that basic hygiene practices and safety standards are being ignored by farmers and retailers alike. This widespread disregard for rules is what ultimately renders the milk hazardous to public health.
This crisis is made more bitter by the fact that prices for this sub-par and often adulterated staple continue to rise in the market. Consumers are forced to pay inflated prices for a product that jeopardizes their well-being, with no guarantee of safety.
An Old Problem with New Findings
As disheartening as it is, this is not a new issue for Karachi. The current findings point to a deep-rooted, systemic crisis in food safety. Eight years ago, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) conducted tests that revealed a similar pattern. Back then, out of sixteen major packaged milk brands tested, only six met the required safety standards. The remaining ten were found to be adulterated with dangerous chemicals.
These recurrent failures over nearly a decade highlight a persistent prioritization of profit over public health. When fundamental hygiene is sacrificed, protecting the larger population becomes a near-impossible task.
The Need for Robust and Lasting Solutions
The situation forces a troubling question: if both processed and supposedly organic food items are contaminated, what choice does the consumer really have? The answer lies in moving beyond temporary measures.
The government must abandon sporadic testing drives that yield no substantial, long-term improvement in the supply chain. There is an urgent need to enact a strong regulatory framework that mandates strict hygiene standards. This must be backed by a system of routine, unannounced audits of all suppliers, from farms to market stalls.
Consumers also have a role to play by actively demanding such rigorous regulation and enforcement from the authorities. Without decisive and sustained action, terms like 'organic' or 'pure' risk becoming nothing more than empty marketing tactics, leaving the public's health in continued peril.
