Why Tukaram Mundhe-led Maharashtra FDA is digitizing milk supply chain
What's the story
Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, is spearheading a major digitization initiative to trace milk from farms to consumers. The move comes as part of efforts to combat the widespread issue of milk adulteration in the state. The plan includes developing a portal that will digitize milking records and link them directly with the milch animals producing that milk.
Monitoring system
Data will be at backend, not visible
The proposed portal will help authorities monitor actual milk output and flag any inconsistencies.
"All milk collection centers would eventually be required to upload their data onto a dedicated portal, which would be built, managed and monitored entirely by the FDA," said Mundhe.
He clarified that this combined data would sit at the backend and wouldn't be visible to those uploading it.
Enforcement measures
Crackdown on food adulteration
The digitization drive comes after months of enforcement action by the Maharashtra FDA against adulteration and unsafe food practices.
The authority has banned analog paneer in the state for a year, prohibited junk food sales near schools, and conducted extensive raids on restaurants, eateries, and catering outlets.
Some of these actions have faced legal challenges from establishments arguing that the crackdown was excessive and didn't follow due legal process.
Real-time updates
Current rules and new portal integration
Under current rules, milk collection centers and dairies are already required to maintain records of accepted and rejected milk.
The FDA intends to make dairies update this data on the new portal in real time.
The NDLM already holds data on milch animals, including their average milk output, since farmers upload this information themselves.
Mundhe said matching these two databases at the backend would help identify adulteration more effectively.
Traceability challenge
NDLM database for traceability
The FDA plans to use the NDLM database for traceability.
The NDLM, a Government of India initiative to manage livestock records digitally, uses an animal tagging system where every animal is tagged and identified.
Farmers are required to update whether it is a milch animal.
Mundhe said this system would eventually help the FDA track the full chain from milk production to consumption.
Adulteration explained
Why is milk adulterated?
Mundhe explained that milk needs to reach a chilling center within two hours of milking, failing which its acidity begins to rise.
To counter this rising acidity, neutralizers are added, marking the point where adulteration typically starts.
He said many dairies collect milk only once a day, leaving the night-drawn milk with nowhere to go within the safe window.
This gap pushes farmers toward using neutralizers and other additives.