New Delhi: Packaging, marketing and sale of A2 milk of dairy companies will continue as before. Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had to withdraw its directive within five days. However, no reasoning has been given for this. In the three-line letter, it has only been said that this decision is being taken after consultation with dairy businessmen.

In such a situation, it is believed that FSSAI has withdrawn the decision after strong resistance from Venugopal Badadara, a member of the governing body of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). He had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to intervene to protect the indigenous breed of cattle. He had also warned of dragging FSSAI to court.

Why did the food regulator impose a ban

Just four days ago, citing the rules, FSSAI had banned the sale of all types of dairy products claiming to be A2 milk from August 21. Ghee and butter were especially mentioned. FSSAI said that there is no difference between A1 and A2 milk on the basis of quality. Still, it is labeled as A2 and sold at higher prices.

Dairy companies were asked to immediately remove such claims from their websites. Food business operators were also instructed to destroy pre-printed packets within six months. The ban letter was issued by FSSAI Executive Director Inoshi Sharma, while the withdrawal letter was issued by Director Regulatory Compliance Rakesh Kumar.

Was the decision a violation of consumer rights?

Just as FSSAI had taken its decision regarding A1 and A2 in a hurry, it also took it back. What is the real reason behind this, was there any pressure, it will take time to come out. But FSSAI's old decision was wrong for many reasons. Keep in mind that in many medical journals, A2 has been considered more nutritious than A1 dairy products.

In such a situation, the consumer has the right to know what is being given to him. Still, the ban on A2 labeling clearly indicates that this regulation has been given in haste. This could have affected the choice of consumers and the business of small milk traders along with cow-keepers. Anyway, there is arbitrariness of dairy companies in the milk sector. Various kinds of claims are made for money.

In recent years, the use of cow's milk has increased, but the other milk that reaches ordinary households is a mixture of cow, buffalo and some other milk animals. This is not made clear on the packet. It is also not made clear whether the milk in the packet is made from powder or directly taken from the cow-keepers. Whereas the truth is that during the rainy season, most of the milk comes made from powder. The consumer is not given any information on such a subject and neither the government is insistent on implementing it.

There could have been an increased threat to the indigenous breed

India is a biodiversity-rich country with 190.9 million cattle. Of these, 53 indigenous breeds of cattle are registered, which is 22 percent. Due to extensive cross-breeding, the breeds of 26 percent of the cattle have changed. The remaining 52 percent are non-descript cattle. Among the registered breeds, only 8-10 cattle are recognized as dairy breeds with A2 beta-casein. Due to climate change, the indigenous breed of cattle is declining.

In the last livestock census, the population of indigenous cattle has decreased by 8.94 percent, while the population of A1 beta-casein milk-producing crossbred cattle has increased by 20.18 percent. The Prime Minister is also a fan of A2 type of milk-producing breeds. The central government has been running a scheme like Gokul Mission since 2014 for the conservation and development of indigenous cattle breeds.