The tale of steel buffaloes

Many years ago I was introduced to abundant presence of steel buffaloes on the outskirts of Lahore, which could double the quantity of milk overnight. I am referring to the equipment used for milk adulteration. The phenomenon is so common that it is virtually impossible to find pure milk in major urban centres, despite the fact that Pakistan is one of the top five milk producers in the world and about 90% of the milk that comes into the market gets sold as loose milk.

Interestingly, adulteration is not an isolated act of a few individuals and is rather organised at a large scale. The loose milk finds its way to the urban consumer through a multi-layer distribution system. ‘Katcha dodhies’ or small-scale middlemen collect milk from villages and pass it on to ‘pakka dodhies’ or medium-to large-scale middlemen, who own these so-called steel buffaloes. They then supply milk to distributors, retailers and ‘gowalas’ or street milk vendors.  The loose milk, ultimately reaching an urban household, often gets adulterated by all the three players in the supply chain: katcha dodhi, pakka dodhi and the gawala.

By the time, the consumers drink it, it is less of milk and more of water, but only if they are lucky. In most cases, what they get is a heavy dose of chemicals, including heavy metals, detergents, starch, caustic soda, urea, sodium carbonate, formalin, and ammonium sulphate. In many cases, antibiotics or hydrogen peroxide are also added to preserve the milk. Moreover, any bacteria present in loose milk rapidly multiply as it gets transported. The results are lack of nutrition and serious health risks posed by water-borne diseases and hazardous chemicals.

Loose milk disappeared from Europe and North America decades ago and gave way to much healthier and safer alternatives like pasteurised milk, sold through cold chains, or even ultra heat-treated (UHT) milk, sold in safe packaging.

Until recently, there was no regulation that prevented sale of loose milk in Pakistan. In 2017, however, the government of Punjab introduced the minimum pasteurisation law, which bans loose milk sales over the next five years.

This is however easier said than done. The government is planning to establish pasteurisation plants but its track record in managing such private operations is dismal. Moreover, pasteurised milk also requires cold chain to stop bacteria from growing. How this cold chain will be established for 90% of the market remains a big question mark. Furthermore, World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index puts Pakistan at 105th position on regulatory enforcement amongst 113 countries, manifesting the country’s extremely limited capacity to enforce regulations.

An unrealistic regulatory regime, poor planning and limited enforcement capacity together form a perfect recipe for rent-seeking. But even if these issues are somehow sorted, a much bigger question awaits the government, which is of affordability.

The farm gate price of milk in Pakistan currently stands around of 45 cents per litre or about 50% higher than developed countries. At retail level, a litre of UHT/pasteurised milk is sold for about $1 in both the US and Pakistan. The per capita income in Pakistan however is 10 times less than that of the US, in purchasing power parity terms, showing that treated milk is rather a premium product in Pakistan. Therefore, any success in enforcement would in fact put milk out of reach for many.

It will be a grave mistake to use excessive regulation to solve a market-driven problem. What the government instead needs is a gradual change in market dynamics and steady elimination of loose milk, through targeted incentives for pasteurisation and processing. It will be foolish of us to believe that in a country where liquor is openly sold despite an outright ban, the government can prohibit sale of loose milk.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2019.

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