ISLAMABAD: MQM Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Sheikh has gone from condemning tea whiteners as chemically made and thus injurious to health, to promoting them as safe for human consumption.

The turnaround came after representatives of the Pakistan Dairy Association (PDA) met Mr Sheikh, member of the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology, on Friday and convinced him of their claim that tea whiteners were free of any chemicals or harmful substances.

At a meeting of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology held last week, its members had raised concerns about manufacturing and selling of substandard tea whiteners. Besides other members, Senator Sheikh had spoken heatedly against manufacturers of tea and coffee whiteners, demanding the government regulate them.

The committee supported Mr Sheikh in expressing displeasure over the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) for failing to regulate packaged milk particularly tea and coffee whiteners.

“Tea whiteners are made synthetically and are not safe for human consumption,” Mr Sheikh had said during the meeting.

At the same meeting, PSQCA Director General Khalid Siddiq had said tea whiteners were not milk and cannot be consumed as a milk product.

After condemning them as ‘chemically-made’ last week, Senator Mian Ateeq Sheikh declares tea whiteners safe for human consumption

Nonetheless, the PDA wanted to clarify what it called were ‘misconceptions’ that existed and had been promoted about packaged dairy over a year.

PDA representatives at Friday’s meeting claimed that tea whiteners, also known as creamers, were globally approved products that composed of milk solid non-fats, vegetable fats, internationally approved and permissible food ingredients. The manufacturers claimed that tea whiteners were free of any chemicals or harmful substances and completely safe. They argued that tea whiteners were manufactured and sold by a large responsible corporate that ensured the highest quality standards in manufacturing.

The PDA also claimed that vegetable fats in tea whiteners had many benefits such as no cholesterol, better consistency, better mouth feel, good product stability, good taste and more economical cup of tea.

On tea whiteners, the PDA team confirmed that there were no harmful chemical ingredients and the consumers should use tea whiteners confidently. The team invited Senator Sheikh and other members of the committee to visit their manufacturing facilities to gain confidence on the safety of the process.

The PDA also requested to be heard in the next standing committee meeting to inform the members of an independent viewpoint by inviting a senior member of the Pakistan Society of Food Scientists and Technologists.

In response, Senator Sheikh said: “I have had detailed discussions with members of the PDA and through explanation of the recipe, processing and composition of tea whiteners accompanied with scientific evidence they maintain that the tea whiteners are perfectly safe and suitable for all ages of tea consumers. I have also assured the PDA that we will give them the opportunity to present their facts in the next committee meeting for issuing a clarification statement.”

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2017