New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday took suo moto cognizance of media reports that 70 percent of the milk in the national capital was adulterated and issued notice to the city government’s food adulteration department and the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Acting Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Shah sought a response from the central and state governments by Jan 25.

The court took note of a report filed by a national daily on Jan 10 that said that 70 percent milk in Delhi was found to be adulterated.

“As much as 70% of milk samples picked up from the capital by a government agency failed to conform to standards,” the report said.

“Of the 71 samples randomly taken from Delhi for testing by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), 50 were found to be contaminated with glucose and skimmed milk powder (SMP), which is usually added to milk in the lean season to enhance volumes,” it added.

“Elsewhere in the 33 states and UTs studied, milk was found adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea, besides the age-old dilution with water. Across the country, 68.4% of the samples were found contaminated,” the report also stated.

However, leading milk suppliers in Delhi told IANS Wednesday that branded milk in the capital was not contaminated