Milk - that 'natural liquid nourishment mothers are encouraged to pour down their offsprings throats on a daily basis, could, if recent claims are to be believed, be nothing more than straight poison in disguise. People here have long been aware that fresh milk, as purchased from milkmen, is likely to be watered down with goodness knows what, so many switched over to packaged milk in the belief that it was, if more expensive, totally safe to drink. But, according to some members of the National Assembly, this is definitely not the case. The members took the Pakistan Dairy Association (PDA) to task about adulterated milk, during a Standing Committee public hearing on Finance and Revenue early last month, in which PDA opposed the introduction of RGST in packaged milk, only to be told that the government laboratories had discovered that the product was not fit for human consumption. PML-Qs Riaz Fatyana revealed that a parliamentary committee on food adulteration had, via government laboratories, discovered that companies were adulterating milk with urea, bleaching powder and dirty water, and that none of the packaged milk in the market was actually fit for human consumption. Obviously, PDA disputed this, insisting that international laboratories found the exact opposite to be true, yet could not come up with any clear answer as to why, according to a Cambridge University report, a country producing 17 billion litres of milk per year manages to consume 38 million litres without resorting to importing this commodity. It doesnt take an Einstein to figure out that the 'outstanding 21 billion litres of 'invisible milk must be conjured up from somewhere or, more worrying, from some 'thing, and one has to wonder why, if government claims have a sound footing, public attention was not immediately focused on the perils of imbibing the stuff? The issue of adulterated foodstuff is not new in Pakistan: Sensible people began taking precautions such as purchasing, then grinding, whole spices instead of using the more convenient powdered versions, which are known to contain harmful food colourings and other unspecified gunk. Those whom, initially at least, elected to stay with prepared spices began to have second thoughts on discovering that some packets clearly state not for export, a clear indication that they contain substances banned elsewhere. Milk though, particularly packaged milk, was viewed as a wonderful safe step towards modernisation and the arrival of multinationals, boasting impeccable reputations for their dairy products, on the scene was welcomed with open arms. According to PML-Ns Khawaja Muhammad Asif, however, these same multinationals do not feel the need to maintain the high standards necessarily adhered to in America and Europe in the Pakistani market where they have, reportedly, invested as little as possible to gain maximum financial returns. It is pertinent to wonder why successive governments and directly concerned departments have allowed such companies to 'milk the captive market they have created here, and why those in the know have not raised the tremendous hue and cry nevertheless, the situation, if correct, seriously warrants. 'Profit before people appears to have been the slogan of the indigenous business community since Pakistans inception, but one did not, naively as it turns out, expect formerly reputable multinationals to blatantly follow suit. Milk, whether it is fit or unfit for human consumption, is the main ingredient of so many items of daily use and not so daily use that consumers, already facing perils on many fronts including the inflationary one, now face a tough task in trying to decide if they should continue including items such as butter, desi ghee, yoghurt, cheese, ice cream, traditional sweets, some biscuits and cakes, and a whole host of other dairy related products in their diets or not. If they chose to press the delete button on all items containing or suspected to contain milk products, they can be left wondering if their own and their childrens diet will be deficient in calcium and other essential vitamins, and minerals, plus, switching over to tea without milk would be more than many can tolerate. Milk products have always, up until now, been associated with good health and well being and this news, if factually correct and, if so then adequately publicised rather than being swept under the proverbial carpet for commercial reasons, is not going to be well received and one can only shudder at the thought. The question this raises now, however, at least as far as the 'thinking general public is concerned, is would it be safer to revert to purchasing fresh milk, boiling and straining it before use in order to remove as many impurities as possible, use 'questionable powdered products or somehow, at least for those with the means and space, to turn the wheel of convenience backwards a revolution or two by inducting a milch animal into the family? The writer is a Murree-based freelance columnist.