Many social media users have shared a newspaper clipping, claiming that Indians are going to suffer from cancer by 2025 due to the adulterated milk that comes in packets. The information is claimed to be sourced from World Health Organization (WHO).
The title of the newspaper article reads: “पिशवीतील भेसळयुक्त दूधामुळे 87 टक्के भारतीय लोक 2025 पर्यंत कॅन्सर ने ग्रस्त होतील. WHO – गेल्या अनेक दिवसांपासून ही माहिती, जनतेपासून लपवून ठेवली आहे. आजच सावध व्हा!” (English translation: “87 percent of Indians will suffer from cancer by 2025 due to adulterated milk in bags. WHO has been hiding this information from the public for many days. Be careful today!”)
The link to the post can be seen here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile did the fact-check, and found it to be fake.
On searching with appropriate keywords, we found an advisory issued by WHO that refuted the viral claim. The advisory reads: “Contrary to reports in a section of media, WHO would like to state that it has not issued any advisory to Government of India on the issue of adulteration of milk/milk products.”
In Lok Sabha, on November 22, 2019, a question regarding people in India getting cancer due to adulterated milk had been raised by the MPs — Bidyut Baran Mahato and Sanjay Sadavshiv Rao Mandlik. The question was: “Whether the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently issued an advisory to the government stating that if adulteration of milk and milk products is not checked immediately, 87 per cent of citizens may suffer from serious diseases like cancer soon.”
The then minister of health and family welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, had replied to the question: “No such advisory has been issued by WHO to the Government of India and the same has been confirmed from WHO country office in India by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). ”
“The Nationwide Milk Safety and Quality Survey conducted by FSSAI in 2018 revealed that only 7% (456 out of total 6,432 samples) had contaminants (antibiotics, pesticides and aflatoxin M1) that make milk unsafe for consumption. Only 12 out of 6,432 samples had adulterants that affect the safety of milk. These 12 samples include six samples adulterated with hydrogen peroxide, three samples adulterated with detergents, two samples adulterated with urea and one sample was found to have neutralisers,” Dr Vardhan adds.
According to another report published by Business Today, dated October 18, 2019, FSSAI discovered that the adulteration and higher-than-allowable levels of antibiotic residues in milk continue to be an issue in the country, although the cases may be far less than commonly assumed.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is fake.
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