Milk scandal: in Georgia, the largest producer fed cows with chicken manure

The largest producer of raw milk in Georgia, the company “Kvarlis baga”, found itself at the center of a scandal: livestock on farms were fed chicken manure, which ultimately led to the discovery of antibiotics in the milk. This became known from an investigation by the Georgian service of Radio Liberty, reports UNN.

Details”Kvarlis baga” is a supplier of the largest Georgian dairy producers – “Sante”, “Soplis Nobati”, “Agrohab” and its subsidiary “Rdzis laboratoria”.

The company attracted attention when in December 2024 it won 4.7 million lari from the chicken producer “Chirina” (brand “Biu-biu”), which supplied it with about 2.7 thousand tons of raw manure. After four years of litigation, the court confirmed that it was through the fault of “Chirina” that “Kvarlis baga” lost up to 200 cows. It was established that samples of their milk contained the antibiotic tetracycline. This drug is not included in the list of prohibited drugs in Georgia. Moreover, it is known that tetracycline was also used to treat cows on the “Kvarlis baga” farm.

The company probably knew about the presence of antibiotics in its milk even before the mass death of livestock. In 2018, for this reason, “Sante” returned a batch of “Kvarlis baga” milk.

“Kvarlis baga” is owned by Lasha Papashvili – one of the richest people in the country, close to the ruling party “Georgian Dream”. This has led to suspicions that due to the businessman’s influence, state bodies turned a blind eye to violations on the company’s farms.

Kvarlis Baga confirmed that in 2018-2019 they used recycled chicken manure as an additive, as a “high-quality protein”. They say that in this way they introduced “Israeli practice”, observing high international standards.

As soon as traces of antibiotics were discovered, we launched an investigation and, after receiving the conclusion of independent laboratories confirming the presence of antibiotics in Chirina’s products, in 2019 cooperation with Chirina was terminated and chicken waste was no longer used in the diet 

They added that the poor-quality milk was not sold and was destroyed.

“Kvarlis baga” says that today it continues to cooperate with the largest dairy producers in the country, which “confirms (including laboratory tests) the highest quality of raw milk.”

“Chirina”, in turn, rejected the accusations, claiming that the manure was intended only for fertilizing the soil, and not for feeding livestock.

The chicken producer insists that their products are absolutely free of antibiotics, which is confirmed by the latest checks by the National Food Agency.

Since 2013, from the first day of production, our chicken does not contain any hormonal additives and steroids. Moreover, no poultry farm in Georgia uses hormones. This is also provided for by the legislation of Georgia. As for antibiotics, the product is periodically checked for traces of antibiotics by the SES and is absolutely clean 

The scandal was also responded to in Sante. They said that they had introduced “the strictest standards for milk quality control”: the products are tested for the presence of antibiotics in milk, the determination of fat and protein, and also carry out microbiological analysis. The company assured that in case of non-compliance with the standards, the milk is returned to the farm and not used in the production process.

Soplis Nobati made no statements. Today it became known that the company’s enterprise was inspected. No critical inconsistencies were found there. At the same time, the National Food Agency sent samples of the company’s products to the laboratory. As a result, the brand’s milk was found to have an increased content of aflatoxin M1 – a toxic substance formed in the milk of animals that ate feed contaminated with mold fungi. Batches with toxins were withdrawn from sale.