There is no presence of formalin and arsenic in the liquid milk of Milk Vita, State Minister for Rural Development and Co-operatives Division Shawpan Bhattacharjee told parliament today.

“No trace of formalin and arsenic has been detected in the liquid milk of Milk Vita. The milk of Milk Vita is wholesome, pure and tasty,” he said participating in the discussion on the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal.

Referring to a recent test report of Dhaka University, the junior minister said “unscrupulous” businessmen are carrying out propaganda that there is the presence of arsenic and formalin in the liquid milk of Milk Vita.

He, however, claimed that the imported milk powder is substandard and not nutritious.

“The milk powder which is being imported to our country is not nutritious. The milk powder is abandoned in Denmark and other European countries. After extracting fat from milk, the milk power is imported as bulk milk product with giving only five per cent tax,” he added.

The state minister said an ill-effort continues so that a quality item like Milk Vita is not sold. After realizing this, the prime minister and finance minister decided to increase the import duty on milk power from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, which he thinks is a timely step.   

Formalin was not present in the test report of Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI), he said.

A test report has also been carried out in Singapore, which termed the milk of Milk Vita as wholesome, appropriate and tasty as it did not find any bad element in it, said the state minister.

“I want to assure the countrymen through this Parliament that the milk of Milk Vita is much better, more acceptable and nutritious than the imported milk powers which are being marketed,” he said.