Stop adulterating milk, minister warns

The state minister for animal and veterinary affairs, Bright Rwamirama, has warned middlemen against preserving milk using human drugs, especially panadol and cassava flour.

Rwamirama was launching the campaign dubbed "Clean milk production and handling" in the northeastern region of the country.

During the campaign launch at Soroti Milk Collecting Centre last week, the Government donated to dairy co-operative societies in the region 63 milk cans worth sh31.5m.

The minister warned that those found carrying milk in dirty containers and adulterating milk with panadol and cassava flour will be dealt with accordingly.

The warning follows a complaint from the chairperson of Masaba Dairy Farmers Co-operative Society, Damian Wamimbi, that middlemen were now benefiting more from milk because they add to it panadol and cassava flour to prolong its shelf life before they sell it to consumers.

Simon Peter Areu, the chairperson Katine Dairy Co-operative Society in Soroti, said adding panadol and cassava flour to the milk could result in diseases such as cancer.

John Stephen Ekoom, the Soroti Resident District Commissioner, said his office has ever intercepted the middlemen trying to adulterate the milk by putting the flour and panadol. He asked that farmers be trained in quality milk production.

The minister accused politicians in the sub-region of derailing the restocking of Teso with the Boran and Ankore long-horn cattle, adding that they politicised the programme and insisted that they wanted the East African short-horn Zebu.

He said the Government is planning to train inseminators and have every dairy collecting centre equipped with an insemination kit and an inseminator.

Rwamirama encouraged people to adequately feed the animals through zero grazing for better dairy production and implored the farmers to keep the quality of milk high. He said Uganda has now moved from processing 30,000 to 2.5 million litres of milk per day.

According to the ministry, the Government is exporting 205 million kilogrammes of powdered milk per annum and is now planning to increase the amount to 350 million by 2021.

Rwamirama said the Government has introduced 14 milk collecting centres, rehabilitated 18 and more from Kumi, Amuria and Ngora are yet to be restored.

He is planning to establish a milk bar in Soroti city so that people do not only concentrate on the drinking of Ajono (a local brew) and alcohol.

Prof. Michael Kansiime, the executive director of the Dairy Development Authority, said Karamoja, Teso, Bukedi, Bugisu and Sebei sub-region produce about 13% of all the milk produced in the country.

He said milk brings sh800b intoALOMUthe economy every year and the country has an opportunity to export to huge consumers of milk such as the US and the Arab world, adding that the Algerian market consumes eight billion litres of milk a year yet this country produces only 2.5 billion litters annually.