Milk adulteration: Samples from Rajasthan dangerous

Jaipur: It’s now official that milk adulteration is a big problem in Rajasthan. The state government has recently submitted before the Rajasthan High Court the real magnitude of the problem.
Eight per cent of milk samples tested during the month-long period from January 20 to February 20 at laboratories of the state dairy department have been found adulterated. Out of 60,439 milk samples collected from across the state, as many as 4,755 samples were found adulterated. Milk samples from Jhalawar were found the most adulterated, while samples from Dholpur were pure.
The report was submitted before the court by Additional Solicitor General SN Kumawat before a division bench of High Court, comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice NK Jain (First). The court also directed the state government to file a detailed report in three weeks about what action the government has initiated to check the menace.
A total of 2,027 samples were collected under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), out of which 1,479 were examined.
As many as 278 samples were found to be sub-standard (not conforming to standards laid down in Act), while 1,194 were found up to the mark. The samples from Jhalawar were found to be the most contaminated, with 45.39 per cent of total 3,212 samples, were adulterated. Next in line was Baran, with 31.86 per cent samples out of 2,222 samples were adulterated, followed by Bundi 17.4 per cent, Hanumangarh 13.5 per cent and Kota 10.8 per cent.
Best quality milk was found in Dholpur, Karaulli, Jaisalmer, Jaipur Zone I and II, besides Ajmer Zone. While zero adulteration was found in 1,220 samples of Dholpur, 1.19 per cent samples in Karaulli and Jaisalemer were found contaminated. While, 1.72 per cent samples (40 out of 2,329 samples) were found contaminated in Jaipur Zone II, just 4 out of 94 samples were found adulterated in Jaipur Zone I.
Earlier, the National Survey on Milk Adulteration 2011 conducted by the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) whose results were made public last month only had found 76 per cent of milk samples tested from Rajasthan as adulterated.
The worrying part of the study was its conclusion that the ‘packaged milk’ was not absolutely safe and in cases, not milk at all- only reconstituted powdered milk. In Rajasthan, the surveyors studied 103 samples of milk, packaged and open. According to the state report, 78 samples failed the purity test. One out of every five samples in the state that failed test was packaged milk- used widely in urban areas.
Besides water and detergents, strains of hydrogen peroxide, sugar, starch, glucose, urea, formalin and vegetable fat were the common adulterants in milk.