Milk alarm

MILK is the most adulterated food item in the world. The problem is particularly acute in India, which has been the largest milk-producing country across the globe for the past over two decades. Water is easily the most innocuous of adulterants that your neighbourhood milkman probably adds every now and then. In a bid to increase the volume and shelf life of milk, which is a staple in almost every Indian household, unscrupulous elements use detergents, urea, starch, glucose and formalin. There are two key questions: Are the food safety authorities doing enough to curb the malpractice? And is there considerable awareness among consumers about this health hazard?

Punjab, which has the highest per capita availability of milk in the country, is struggling to stem the rot. In the past three years (2021-24), nearly 18 per cent of the samples of milk and milk products collected from across the state failed to conform to the standards. Haryana, which is among the leading milk producers nationwide, fared even worse as 28 per cent of the samples did not pass the quality test. With the festival season coming up, the searches and seizures will be intensified. However, the civil and criminal cases registered against those involved in adulteration have failed to act as a deterrent, largely due to the poor conviction rate. The majority of the offenders know that they will eventually get away with it.

Testing kits for the detection of commonly used adulterants in milk are available in the market. It is important to make these products affordable, user-friendly and foolproof so that consumers as well as dairy cooperatives and plants can check the quality of milk. At the same time, food safety agencies need to be proactive in inspecting and sampling food products and taking strict action for non-compliance with standards. Every case that falls flat emboldens miscreants to play with the health of unsuspecting people.