Got milk?: Committee formed to settle dispute over Dairy Omung

4% of the total milk production in the country is processed, which costs higher than the loose milk available in the market. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a committee to settle the dispute between a leading food manufacturing company – Engro Foods – and the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) over restrictions on the distribution and sale of ‘Dairy Omung’.

The committee comprises Punjab’s food minister, PFA director general, food scientists, law secretary and industry stakeholders. It will also recommend classifications for dairy drinks, introduced by different companies in the market.

Engro Foods Chief Executive Officer Sarfaraz Rehman attended the meeting on Friday and expressed hope for a positive resolution of the issue.

The restriction came after the PFA claimed that Dairy Omung was not milk. The company itself agrees to it and calls it a dairy drink. The company conducted a research on the loose (raw) milk available in the market, and found that it was “unhygienic and not safe for consumption”.

“Fat contents in our product are made of vegetable oils and not only does it provide nutrition it is also cheaper,” the CEO said.

Rehman said necessary steps should be taken and a single classification system should be applied to all provinces. The current system is complicated for the manufacturers and discourages innovation in the food sector, he said.

The absence of such a system is the main cause behind frictions between the PFA and food manufacturers. Rehman said classifications and standards should be evolved at the earliest for products like dairy drinks, which are not only nutritional but also cost less than real milk products available in the market.

On November 21, the PFA closed a Lahore-based distributor for Dairy Omung, but the company managed to get a stay order from the Lahore High Court.

PFA officials argue that the product is not milk but falls under the milk category and if it is not milk, it cannot be sold. The company has admitted that the product is not milk, neither does it claim that it is milk. It demands a revised classification system where dairy drinks do not fall under the milk category but have a category of its own.

The Engro Foods CEO pointed out that Pakistan is facing a milk shortage and quality dairy products with nutritional values at affordable prices will help address the issue. He stated that only 4% of the milk production in the country is processed, which costs higher than the loose milk available in the market.

Rehman said the world is facing a 66% shortage of milk and countries like Brazil and Indonesia have started allowing low-priced dairy drinks. He asked the PFA to add more classifications for such innovative products with the help of food scientists and called for coming up with a more uniform system across the country