Milk is the single most important item of human diet.When milk leaves the udder of the cow, all the interplay's of adulteration begin. Adulteration in milk are present in various forms, to name a few are water, skimmed milk powder, starch, cereal flours, glucose, sugar, salt, maltodextrin, detergent, nitrate fertilizers, hydrogen peroxide, unhygienic pond water, neutralizers, vegetable oil and urea.
The results of a first-of-its-kind survey on milk by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) reveal something startling—most Indians are consuming detergents and other contaminants through milk. The study notes that the consumption of milk with detergents in hazardous to health.
Water turns out to be the most common adulterant in milk. It reduces the nutritional value of milk. If contaminated with pesticides or heavy metals, water poses a health risk to consumers. The most common reason given for non-conformity of standards laid down by FSSAI is the difference between demand and supply of milk. In order to meet the demand, the suppliers usually adulterate the milk and increase the quantity. of the total non-compliant samples, the highest belonged to the category of low Solid Not Fat (SNF) and this was due to dilution of milk with water. The higher the SNF, the better the quality of milk.
Apart from fat, SNF, skimmed milk powder and glucose, the survey was also looking for the presence of neutralizers, acidity, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, starch, urea, salt, detergent, formalin and vegetable salt. Studies show that adulterants like salt, detergents and glucose add to the thickness and viscosity of the milk, as well as preserve it for longer period, while starch prevents curdling of milk.
These adulterants are hazardous and cause irreversible damage to the organs. The Indian Council of Medical Research in an earlier report had mentioned that detergents in milk caused food poisoning and gastrointestinal complications; The other synthetic compounds cause impairments, heart problems, cancer and even death. The immediate effect of drinking adulterated milk with urea, caustic soda and formalin is gastroenteritis but the long-term effects are known to be far more serious.
In addition to these adulterations, milk loses its freshness because it change hands over multiple times before it reaches you!
Several years ago, a union minister revealed to the parliament that 70% of milk in India was adulterated. I suspected that milk in polythene packs could be adulterated easily, as the packaging is being done locally. I also heard about an instance in Tamil Nadu. Aavin milk lorry en route to packing plant was getting stopped, certain volume of that milk was replaced with adulterant like water, in collusion with the driver.
After these news, we switched to tetra pack milk of a reputed brand. The belief/hope is that there are lesser chances of adulteration as the packaging is done near the source (like cooperatives). To bring down the price, we get the boxes directly from a distributor who gives a decent discount. There was a milk testing kit available on amazon which found no issues with the distributor provided tetra pack milk. We thought that is all we can do, and are hoping we don't get adulterated milk.
Reading such blatant adulteration is disturbing. There is no guarantee the milk products such as ghee, ice cream, etc are made from unadulterated milk. Sticking to good brands might help a bit, with the hope that these brands care about their brand image and stringently check the quality of the milk that goes into their products.
But with the recent news of adulterated honey from almost all the brands, we may not have much hope there either. Probably, the best way is to stop drinking milk and avoiding milk products or at least reduce the consumption. This is a hard thing to do (considering milk is a key nutritious food we take). But it is something we can consider for the poor treatment meted out to the animals for extracting their milk.
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