Tackle milk adulteration problem with urgency

The bulk of milk supplied by vendors across the country could be either contaminated or adulterated

Once again, the issue of milk adulteration has reared its head.
In the course of an ongoing public interest litigation in the Supreme Court, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has given details of a survey it had done on adulteration of milk.
As suspected, it found a large number of samples it had collected from all over the country to be sub-standard or adulterated.

Mixing of water with milk to dilute it has been going on for ages, as we know.
This practice may be relatively harmless since adulteration with water does not make milk unsafe or unhealthy.
However, it reduces its nutrition value and might affect those who solely depend on milk for supply of nutrients.
If the water added is contaminated it could even be dangerous and cause water-borne diseases.
More sinister is the practice of adulteration with detergent and soda particularly during summertime to prevent coagulation of milk when it is boiled.
Bacterial growth during storage could also have harmful health effects.
So, what's the solution?
Clearly the food safety authority must get cracking to check the practice round the year, and not wake up only when there is public hue and cry.
This apart, awareness and education campaigns should be taken up right away among those in the dairy business to promote hygienic conditions for collection and transport of milk.
At the same time, instances of adulteration and contamination should not be used to argue for banning the sale of loose milk altogether and replacing it with packaged milk.
Remember, the bulk of the dairy industry in India is still unorganised and the size of an average dairy is very small.
And most of the milk produced is consumed in rural areas.
Any solution should not overlook these ground realities.