Milk adulteration more in North India, says FSSAI

A lot of milk during the festival season is made using detergents and urea.

NEW DELHI: Compared to South India, the percentage of adulteration in milk was more in Northern states the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said. "A survey conducted three months ago showed in general that milk adulteration was low in southern India, more in north India," FSSAI Chairman Ashish Bahuguna was quoted by PTI as saying. A survey with a sample size of about 2,500 had "some surprising" results as some states reported no adulteration at all, which "I personally cannot believe", he said. “A product can be substandard without impacting on health, those attributes we are for the time being keeping aside and focusing on those attributes which render a product unsafe”. The food safety regulator has also developed a testing kit to check the quality of milk and is looking for investors for its bulk production to address the issue. This kit will be made available in public domain and will be affordable for even for the poor at a very low price of Rs 10 to Rs 15. FSSAI, which works for the Ministry of health, is now looking for a company which could produce this kit at a large scale and release it in the market. The adulteration of milk in India has been going on for years. It reduces the quality of milk and makes it hazardous. Contaminated milk can create serious health issues leading to fatal diseases especially when it has been laced with urea, detergents, acid, starch and other toxic chemicals. A lot of milk, called synthetic, during the festival season is made using detergents and urea. It resembles milk but can be very harmful. Its consumption may have either immediate or long-term effects, or both.