69% of milk samples fail purity test

If you thought your glass of milk will give you guaranteed nutrition, think again! The first mass survey of quality of milk supplied to consumers across the country by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has led to shocking discoveries with as many as 69 per cent of the samples failing the test of purity.

At least 14 per cent of milk samples were found to contain traces of detergents in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal.

Widespread adulteration

The survey by the country's food regulator to ascertain the quality of milk and find adulteration types, found that not a single sample of milk collected in seven States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Mizoram conformed to quality standards of milk.

Presence of sodium chloride was detected in a milk sample taken in Assam, while two samples taken in Nagaland saw presence of neutralizers.

However, all milk samples taken in Goa and Puducherry conformed to the standards.

Watering down

The study indicates that addition of water to milk is the most common adulterant, which not only reduces the nutritional value of milk but contaminated water may also pose a health risk.

Any microbial contamination due to addition of contaminated water can, however, be overcome by thoroughly boiling the milk before consumption, the Central food authority held.

The survey also shows that powdered milk is reconstituted by addition of skimmed milk powder, glucose and fat to meet the demand of milk supply.

The second highest parameter of non-conformity was the skimmed milk powder (SMP) in 548 samples (44.69%), which includes presence of glucose in 477 samples.

Alarming data

A total of 1,791 samples were analysed from 33 States and Union Territories out of which 1,226 samples (68.4 per cent) were found non-conforming to standards, 46.8 per cent samples were found deficient in fat and solids not fat, 44.7 per cent sample were found containing skimmed milk powder and 8.4 per cent samples were found containing detergents.

The results of the sample tests from other States show that in Manipur and Meghalaya a total of 96 per cent samples failed while 92 per cent samples failed in Tripura, 89 per cent in Gujarat and Sikkim and 88 per cent failed in Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

In Nagaland 86 per cent samples failed the standards test, while 83 per cent failed in Jammu & Kashmir.

In Punjab 81 per cent milk samples failed the quality test, while in Rajasthan, 76 per cent failed to conform to the quality standards and 70 per cent failed in both Delhi and Haryana, 68 per cent failed in Arunachal Pradesh, 65 per cent in Maharashtra and 59 per cent in Himachal Pradesh.

Besides, 58 per cent milk samples failed the quality tests in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 55 per cent in Assam, 48 per cent in Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh, 28 per cent in Kerala and 22 per cent in Karnataka while 12 per cent failed in Tamil Nadu and 6.7 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.

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