City getting conscious of milk testing amid adulteration blues

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 26

With the Health Department cracking down on the sellers of spurious milk and paneer across the state and increasing number of samples getting failed, the local residents are a harried lot. They no more want to shut their eyes to adulteration and are now increasingly getting their milk supply checked.

When it comes to getting milk tested, a few options are available with the residents. They can either get milk tested from the Dairy Department or call the Health Department for the same. But the best option will be to buy a milk-testing kit from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and test milk yourself.

The Dairy Development Board Office is located at Model Town. Santokh Singh, District Inspector of Dairy Development Board, said during milk testing, they test for water, fat, SNF (solid not fat), density, urea and salt. Milk testing is here done free of cost.

The other option available is Health Department. But it collects samples only from sellers. So, if anybody has any doubt about the purity and quality of milk, then he or she can contact the department. The samples are sent to the food laboratory located at Kharar.

Milk testing kit

A milk-testing kit available with Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University helps in detecting five common adulterants, such as sugar, starch, urea, neutraliser and hydrogen peroxide. A pamphlet given with the kit explains how to use it and identify adulterants in milk. One could conduct 100 tests with one kit. These kits are available at the Department of Dairy Sciences and Technology, GADVASU, for Rs 300.

Dr AK Puniya, dean of Dairy College, GADVASU, said they did test milk if anybody approached them. But it depends on the time when the sample was taken, how it was preserved and a lot of other factors.

“It is better if an expert collects the sample. We have a kit which can be procured by people and it has all the necessary information about its usage,” he said.

No quick action

The Dairy Development Board can only collect samples and create awareness against adulteration. But the power to take action against the offenders lies with the Health Department. If a sample fails, it is sent to the Health Department for further action. But in between a lot of time is wasted and many people would have consumed that milk by the time action is taken.

Residents want stern action

A senior citizen, Pritpal Singh, said defaulters should be heavily fined. If the sample of a vendor fails, then samples should be collected from him for at least three times. The fine should be increased with recurrent failures and his licence cancelled after third failure.

Run a test yourself

• Starch: Boil 3 ml of milk and let it cool down at room temperature. Add one drop of iodine solution. If milk turns blue, it indicates presence of iodine.
• Sugar: Add 1 ml of concentrated HCI and 0.1 gram of resorcinol solution to 5 ml of milk. Place the test tube in water for 5 minutes, if the solution turns red, it indicates presence of added sugar. 
• Common Salt: Add 1 ml of 0.1 N silver nitrate solution to 5 ml of milk. Mix the content thoroughly and add 0.5 ml of 10 per cent potassium chromate solution. If it turns yellow, it indicates presence of common salt. If the solution turns brick red, it indicates no added salt.
• Foreign fat: Keep the milk for a long time, fat will eventually start floating as a separate layer on top.
• Detergent: Add 0.1 ml of 0.5 per cent bromoctesol purple solution to 5 ml of milk. If violet colour appears, it indicates the presence of detergent.
• Water: Put a few drops of milk from a reclining surface. If it stops or flows slowly leaving behind a white trail, it is pure. If it flows down immediately without leaving a trail, then it is impure. 

What’s substandard, unsafe milk

• If a sample contains urea, formalin, detergent, neutraliser, etc, then it is considered unsafe.
• If a sample contains sugar, starch, glucose and salt, then it is considered substandard.

Options available for testing

• Dairy Development Board
• Health Department 
• Kit developed by GADVASU

WhatsApp groups by milk vendors

Many milk vendors have formed a WhatsApp group with their clients. They themselves get milk tested and upload the reports in the group to prove the purity of milk supplied by them.