Milk adulteration rampant in India

A startling six per cent of the samples tested in 2015 by the Ministry of Health had presence of ‘detergents’ in them confirming that ‘synthetic milk’ is a huge problem.

More than two thirds of the milk in India does not meet the food safety standards.
India is today the world’s largest producer of milk thanks to the white revolution. Yet more than two thirds of the milk in India does not meet the food safety standards. Adulteration of milk is rampant; a startling six per cent of the samples tested in 2015 by the Ministry of Health had presence of ‘detergents’ in them confirming that ‘synthetic milk’ is a huge problem.
For a lay person trying to differentiate between contaminated and pure milk is a tall order and only specific chemical tests can reveal the truth. Contaminated milk can be a huge health hazard especially when it has been laced with urea, detergents and other toxic chemicals. Now a cheap milk testing kit has been developed by the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in Mysuru, which is a part of the gigantic Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This kit, which even an untrained person can use at home, helps within minutes detect contamination of six common adulterants in milk.
The kit uses just a few chemicals and strips of paper dipped in a different chemical. A change in colour of the milk or a change in colour of the paper indicates the presence of a contaminant. When detergents are present in the milk, the colour of test turns to green, yellow or blue.
Recently as part of another initiative, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan unveiled another dedicated system for the detection of adulteration and analysis of milk, developed by Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CEERI), Pilani.
The ‘Ksheer-Scanner’ instantaneously detects the adulterants in milk. It is a low-cost portable system with user-friendly features. It enables detection of contaminants in just 40-45 seconds at the per sample cost of less than 50 paise.
A lot of milk during the festival season is made using detergents and urea. Called 'synthetic milk', it resembles milk but can be very harmful.Every day washing powder and refined oil are mixed and then diluted to make it look and have the consistency of real milk.