Your milk could be contaminated with Oxytocin, a drug meant for women!

How sure are you that the milk you consume is safe? In a shocking development, it has come to light that dairy owners in the state are injecting their cattle with Oxytocin (a hormone drug used to induce labour in women) to boost milk production. The drug not only leaves the cattle barren very soon but the milk from the cattle that humans consume may lead to a health complication.

While injecting hormone drug to cattle is nothing new, the sale of Oxytocin that is banned for the dairy to boost milk production has caught the State government unawares. For, Health Minister K Ramesh Kumar himself admitted at a programme in Belagavi that dairy farmers are using Oxytocin for their cattle to boost production, reports Vijaya Karnataka.

In fact, the dangerous trend would have gone unnoticed if the authorities from the drug controllers' office had not been vigilant. According to The Hindu, officials of the drug controllers' office led by Deepak N Gaikwad, Deputy Drugs Controller, posed as farmers and purchased the drug from Vardhaman medical stores in Mangasuli of Athani taluk in Belagavi district.

The officials have sent the product sample that reportedly does not have any batch number or other details of the manufacturer for testing. The drug was supplied by an Indore-based manufacturer, reports The Hindu.

Since the drug is classified as Schedule H of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the drug can be distributed on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner only.

It is reported that over time, the drug shrinks the reproductive ability in cows. Besides, it also reduces the lifespan of cattle. Also, it contracts the uterus of the cattle. Besides, over-extraction of milk deprives the calves of antibodies in the milk, leaving their chances of survival very minimal. The consumption of milk contaminated with Oxytocin results in the onset of puberty in children, which is on the rise, these days.

In fact, Union minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi have been raising the issue of illegal administration of Oxytocin in cattle to boost milk production. Although the drug was brought under Scheduled H drug, it continues to be sold illegally by the pharmacies, over the counter.