HUNGER GAMES: That tricky glass of milk

It either runs a high risk of being adulterated or is presumably authentic but expensive

While an increasing number of friends claim to be suddenly “lactose intolerant” these days, there are ironically that many more options for milk.

In the small town in Madhya Pradesh where I grew up, there were two main domestic suppliers of milk. You bought from one or the other; there was no third option. This was before the era of tetra packs.

My childhood memories include going to the tabela at the crack of dawn, the vast, dusty grounds thick with the smell of cows, pollen and dung. People would queue up with their cans or any other utensils. A dairy employee would milk the cow and it would be poured into the customers’ can still frothing and warm, with an odd piece of hay floating on top.

Things have changed a bit by 2013. We get terta packs bought from the grocer (at Rs.55-60 a litre) that last upto six months when unopened or supplies in plastic packets that get dropped off at the doorstep (Rs.32-40) every morning, which go bad if they remain outside the refrigerator for more than three hours. There still are the milkmen who come home with their aluminium cans, but the numbers are fewer in big cities.

While an increasing number of friends and acquaintances claim to be suddenly “lactose intolerant” these days, there are ironically that many more options for milk (which, as a product, seems to have an equal number of fans and haters).

Just recently, we got a flyer for a home supply of milk in Mumbai from the Organic Garden, the chain of stores that supplies organic groceries. Priced at Rs.45 and starting early October, this will tie up with the local milk vendor for home deliveries.

This flyer was followed by an email a few days later from another farm that supplies “unadulterated, fresh milk”. Sarda Farms in Nashik has been delivering this milk in that city for a year now and have decided to spread their wings to Mumbai. Their deliveries will start next month to select locations but their website (saradafarms.com) already has elaborate details.

They do raw, pasteurized and skimmed milk, each costing Rs.80 a litre. The farm has, according to its website, besides an ultra-modern plant, bottled packaging, a Dutch farm manager, Holstein cows, “special hay beds for the cows to ensure they are comfortable while sleeping or resting” and “a designated ruminating area pre-defined to help the cows ruminate in leisure”.

About two years ago, Parag Milk Foods launched its brand Pride of Cows in South Mumbai. At Rs.75 a litre and served in PET bottles, this milk that came from a Holstein Freisian breed of cows at Bhagyalaxmi Dairy Farm near Pune was said to be untouched by humans. Their Facebook page gives out a list of celebrity clients. The Hindu Business Line reported then that some South Mumbai families or customers were selected for deliveries following a survey done by the company. Their European farm manager was quoted in the article saying that every cow went through an electronic health check every time it was milked to ensure it is at its peak health at that time.

According to a study by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) reported in 2012, 65% of the milk tested from Maharashtra did not meet the prescribed norms or was adulterated. So where does that leave an average consumer?

Pay Rs.34-40 a litre for milk that may be adulterated or Rs.75-80 for something that presumably is not? There’s no easy answer, but there is, obviously, a price to pay for anything that’s “authentic”.

This weekly series, which appears on Tuesdays, looks at what’s new with food and drink, and how we are interacting with it.