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Al Ain Dairy blames shops for curdling of milk

SHARJAH - The Al Ain Dairy has dismissed consumer allegations of poor quality of their products including milk, stating that improper storage of products by supermarkets and groceries was the cause for their products getting spoilt before the expiry date.

Consumers have complained about the quality of its milk as it reportedly curdles even before the scheduled date of expiry.

Narrating one such milk curdling tale, Meriam Yousef, a housewife said that she is one of the biggest buyers of the various ranges of Al Ain dairy products and previously she never experienced any problem regarding the taste of any of the factory’s products.

“But, few days ago when I was having a glass of milk and while taking the first sip from Al Ain milk I noticed that the taste seemed sour and terrible despite the fact that two days were still remaining for the expiry date. I threw away the milk gallon thinking something has gone wrong but the problem happened again few days ago when my daughter who is four years old complained of the taste of the ‘Moochy’, the Strawberry and milk juice. I just threw the juice and the milk while being dissatisfied with the quality of Al Ain products that I trust so much,” she said.

Another consumer Luna Ali said that she regularly buys Al Ain Yoghurt in addition to the two litres skimmed milk and she never faced any kind of problem until recently when she found out the milk stored in the refrigerator had curdled one day ahead of the expiry date.

“As a consumer who really loves the Al Ain products, I didn’t hesitate to contact directly Al Ain Factory to clearly know what’s wrong with the milk. I told one of the sales employees about the curdled milk and he kept on asking me various questions. He asked me about the shopping outlet from where I bought the milk and was trying to convince me that it may have been stored in improper temperature in the market refrigerator. But I was quite sure that nothing was wrong with the refrigerator of one of the biggest and well-know hypermarkets in Sharjah due to the fact that on the same day of buying Al Ain milk I bought another branded milk gallon and nothing went wrong with it even a day after the expiry date. He then asked my house location in order to take the milk gallon for laboratory testing and apologised for the curdled milk while giving some of Al Ain products instead of curdled one,” she said.

When Khaleej Times took up the consumer complaints with Al Ain Dairy factory, Anees Quraishi, Production Manager, said the main cause is that sometimes the hypermarkets and the supermarket switch off the refrigerators to save the electricity bills overlooking the fact that they are causing enormous harm to the refrigerated products that should never be placed in hot or improper temperature. This is not the only reason as some small groceries refrigerate milk at very high temperature causing the milk to curdle, he added.

“Consumers need to know that the expiry date is valid in case the milk gallon is not opened at all; but once it is opened, it should be consumed as soon as possible without having to wait for the expiry date. Once bought, consumers should immediately place the milk in the refrigerator. Milk is pasteurised and should never be placed outside the refrigerator,” said Quraishi and advised the people not to buy big milk bottles unless the number of the family members consuming the milk is high and that milk bottles of small size bought daily is better than buying a big volume and refrigerating it till it expires.

“We are a trusted company that have been working for years to gain the trust of people. In order to closely ensure that the milk delivered to consumers is safe, a campaign will soon be organised by the UAE Dairy Association to ensure that hypermarkets, supermarkets and groceries are properly handling and storing the milk in the refrigerator at proper temperature,” he said.

Quraishi explained: “On every Saturday and Sunday, we send Al Ain milk samples to all the UAE municipalities in addition to taking random samples from the milk already offered through the market shelves.”

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• UAE