SC clears way for milk production, sale of 11 companies

The Appellate Division on Wednesday stayed a High Court order for five weeks clearing ways for 11 more pasteurised milk companies to produce, distribute and sell milk, reports news agency UNB.

Supreme Court chamber judge Md Nuruzzaman passed the order after hearing separate appeals filed by the companies seeking a stay on the HC order.

Earlier, the SC cleared the way for Pran Milk and Farm Fresh on Tuesday and for Milk Vita on Monday to produce and sell milk.

Attorney general Mahbubey Alam, who stood for the companies, said with the fresh order, the 11 companies will be able to produce, distribute and sell their milk.

On 28 July, the High Court had instructed all the pasteurised milk-producing companies -- Aarong Dairy, Milk Vita, Farm Fresh, Pran Milk, Igloo, Dairy Fresh, Milk Fresh, Milk One, Ultra, Ay-Ran, PURA, Aftab, Arwa and SAFE -- to refrain from producing, marketing and selling milk for five weeks.

On 14 July, the HC sought the test reports of pasteurised milk of all companies within a week after testing the samples of those in four different laboratories.

The labs are -- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Institute of Public Health, Food Safety Laboratory under the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute.

A new test, conducted by professor ABM Faroque, former director of Dhaka University's Biomedical Research Centre, found the traces of antibiotics in pasteurised products of Pran, MilK Vita, Igloo, Aarong, and Farm Fresh.

On 25 June, scientists said they found the traces of detergent and antibiotics in samples of raw and pasteurised milk of Pran, MilK Vita, Igloo, Aarong and Farm Fresh.