Nepal’s The Himilayan published an Op-Ed by Anjani Kumar on food safety in the dairy industry.
Food safety is a vital component of food security, however, in many developing countries, compliance to food safety measures (FSM) have remained elusive.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) undertook a comprehensive study on compliance with FSM in Nepal’s milk production. Results show that the status of farm level compliance is not very encouraging. On an average, only 64 per cent of the recommended measures are adopted by the dairy farmers in Nepal, though the government released the “code of practices for dairy industry” more than fifteen years ago.
Several policy actions are recommended based on the comprehensive empirical analysis undertaken by IFPRI. Some recommendations include creating massive awareness among the producers; sensitizing farmers to discard milk from seriously diseased and infected animals, or even from animals receiving medication.
Other recommendations can be found in the Op-Ed.