Mohali, August 1
What the milkman brings to your doorstep each morning is not any wholesome stuff but a mix of highly adulterated milk laced with harmful chemicals to increase its shelf life.

The Tribune got 20 samples of milk collected at random from various households and markets. These samples were numbered and handed over to the Verka Milk Plant, Mohali, to test whether they were adulterated or not. These had no identifying marks that could give away the place of origin of the samples so that the tests were conducted without any prejudice.

The results The Tribune got were shocking. Ninety per cent of the milk samples had copious quantities of water in them; every fourth sample was found to contain a neutraliser (sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydroxide) to increase the shelf life of the milk; 85 per cent of the samples had fat content lower than what was prescribed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (PFA), and 95 per cent of the samples had the SNF (solid not fat) value lower than that prescribed by the PFA.

For example, a sample collected from a house in phase VII Mohali showed 3.1 per cent fat content, almost half of what was prescribed by the PFA in case of buffalo milk. The SNF count too was 6.8 per cent, when actually it should have been close to 9 per cent. And to top it all, large quantities of neutralisers were found in the milk. Similarly, a sample collected from a well known sweet shop in the area tested positive for the neutraliser test. It had only 4.7 per cent fat and 5.1 per cent SNF.

Similarly, in yet another sample, while the fat content and the SNF content were close to the normal value, the fact that it was laced with a neutraliser made it unfit for human consumption.

The implications are appalling. Consumption of this milk would never lead to better health, stronger bones or teeth and is certainly not what your children should be consuming even once a day, let alone three times a day! Instead, drinking this milk could lead to serious health problems ranging from kidney failure to reproductive problems.

“Pond water, salt, sugar, starch and sodium hydroxide are the most common forms of milk adulterants. Addition of water increases the volume of milk. Dirty water is preferred as it leads to the increase in SNF,” said Dr G.R. Patil, Head of the Department of Dairy Technology at the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal.

Aware of the fact that the incidence of milkmen using neutralisers was on the rise across Punjab, Mr Anil Kaura, Director, Punjab Dairy Development Board, said the problem was more acute in summer. “The dairy farmer’s tendency is to use a neutraliser since it is easily available to ensure that the milk does not curdle in the heat before he can deliver it,” he explained.

Though none of the milk samples got checked by The Tribune had any urea detected in them, Mr A.S. Mishra, in charge quality control, Verka Milk Plant, Mohali, pointed out that urea was commonly added to increase both the shelf life and also its SNF count. When urea was added, the milk looked thick and concentrated while actually it was low in fat and SNF and was poisonous due to the presence of urea.

So, while the milkmen are charging you for full cream buffalo or cow milk, many of them are actually supplying low fat milk with high amounts of bacterial water to increase the volume and chemicals to make it last.

The situation seems to have worsened with dairy farmers choosing more dangerous and toxic adulterants. The Dairy Development Board had early this year collected over 8,000 samples from various districts in Punjab to check for adulteration.

While neutralisers were most commonly used, some of these were found to be adulterated with formalin, nitrate fertilizers and ammonia compounds.

In fact, the Board has since, been, trying to create awareness among the consumers to either shift to pasteurised and packed milk or get the milk they take from the milkman regularly tested for adulteration.