May 22: Purabi, the popular milk brand in city, is now getting smart.

Purabi Cow Milk, produced and marketed by West Assam Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Ltd (WAMUL) will now be available in the market as “Purabi Smart”, without any change in quality and composition and with the added goodness of vitamin A.

The decision in this regard has been taken to comply with prescribed norms under the recently introduced Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006.

The city’s daily milk consumption is pegged at around 1.4 lakh litres. Of this, the cooperative supplies more than 10,000 litres daily on an average, while private producers meet the rest of supply.

M. Thakur, managing director of the cooperative, said similar to their “Cow Milk”, the new variety will have the same composition of milk fat and Solid Not Fat, at 3.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively.

He said considering the growing need, they have decided to fortify “Purabi Smart” with vitamin A — an essential vitamin required for normal vision.

“According to an WHO report, vitamin A deficiency is one of the most important causes of child blindness in India. The report also says in Assam and the northeastern region, nearly half of childhood blindness cases is because of vitamin A deficiency and this can be avoided through the vitamin A supplement,” Thakur said.

WAMUL came into existence in 1976 after the union of milk producers’ cooperatives in Nagaon, Morigaon, Goalpara, Nalbari and Kamrup districts and started its activities in 1981-82. The cooperative had a tough time since its inception and faced many problems, with employees compelled to sacrifice their wages and salaries for months.

It started marketing Purabi milk in greater Guwahati more than a decade ago. After crossing several hurdles, WAMUL made profit for the first time in 2009. The milk processing plant of the cooperative in Panjabari area is now processing 17,000 litres of milk daily and the capacity utilisation is growing day by day.

“Purabi Smart Milk” will be launched from May 25 without any change in its current sale price. The management is hopeful customers would like the new variety and said they expected the number of customers to rise because of value addition to the product.

A doctor at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital said fortified milk is milk enriched with vitamins. “Most fortified milk varieties contain vitamins A and D. Milk fortified with vitamin A is necessary for vision health. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to inflammation of eyes and even cause blindness,” he said.

“Fortified milk provides an easy way to get the necessary amount of vitamin A without overdoing it,” the doctor said.