APROPOS the various letters and columns in this esteemed daily advocating the ban on whey powder and milk powder. My contention is why ban milk powder?

When the king’s men and all the king’s horses are failing to deliver pure milk in cities and even villages does it make sense to ban cheap but quality milk powder? Has any producer bothered to install equipment to provide consistent quality to the consumers?

When the producer adds water, then the middleman would perhaps add anything from formaldehyde to detergent and lastly the retailer would do the same thing. This is documented and shown regularly by the media.

Pakistan has among one of the highest populations of milk-producing animals in the world. At the same time we have never been able to meet the demand for milk. Given these glaring inconsistencies and the chronic inability to provide pure food to the people does it make sense to ban milk powder?

The only way to acquire pure milk in this country in my humble opinion is to buy imported canned full-cream milk powder that has not yet expired. Yes they sell every commodity that has expired in Pakistan. Ever wonder why imported shampoo is on 70 per cent off? If you check the expiry date on these articles you would find that their date is about to expire.

There is no point in banning or increasing levies on powdered milk. At least it is milk. The consumers would be getting what it says on the box (hopefully). By granting protection to corrupt supply chains there would be no increase in the quality or quantity of milk in Pakistan.

Choudhry Khalid Sindhu

Lahore

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2017