Milk Adulteration is one of the biggest concerns in India. According to FSSAI, “Adulterant means any material which is or could be employed for making the food unsafe or sub-standard or misbranded or containing extraneous matter; Food is adulterated if its quality is lowered or affected by the addition of substances which are injurious to health or by the removal of substances which are nutritious. It is defined as the act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by the admixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient.
Some of these adulterants are harmful for us and may cause prolonged illness.
Here is the list of nine common adulterants found in milk and milk products.
- Water: Water is the most common adulterant. Milk is generally diluted with water to increase the volume. It reduces the nutritional value. Milk adulterated with contaminated water may cause serious health hazards.
- Urea: Urea is added to milk to increase the SNF (solid-not-fat) content. It also provides whiteness to milk. Urea may badly affect the functioning of the kidneys.
- Sucrose: Sucrose is generally added to milk to raise the density of milk.
- Starch: Starch is another common adulterant found in milk. Starch is added to make up the density of milk. This helps to prevent the detection of extraneous water added to milk. Consumption of starch may cause diarrhea in the human body.
- Glucose: Glucose is added to increase the lactometer reading. It also provides taste. Poor quality Glucose is harmful to Diabetic patients.
- Hydrogen Peroxide: Hydrogen Peroxide is added to milk for improving the quality of milk. It provides prolonged freshness to milk. Hydrogen Peroxide badly affects gastrointestinal tracts. It may lead to gastritis and inflammation.
- Maltodextrin: Maltodextrin is a common additive used in milk. It increases the volume of milk and milk products. Consumption of milk adulterated with Maltodextrin may cause Allergy, Diarrhea.
- Salt: Sodium Chloride commonly known as Salt is added to milk to make up the density of milk to prevent the detection of added water. Consumption of milk adulterated with salt is not good for people with high blood pressure.
- Neutralizers: Neutralizers like Alkali bicarbonates, carbonates are added to milk to neutralize the developed acidity. Neutralizers are not good for human health. It causes gastrointestinal complications.
These are some common adulterants used by dishonest manufacturers for making more profits.
To combat adulteration in milk and milk products, We at, Delmos Research Pvt. Ltd bring easy to use Delstrips. Our FSSAI approved paper-based strips can be used at the farm level, at dairy plants, even at the household level. Now anyone can detect the adulterants in milk and milk products by visualizing the color change. If you would like to know more about our products, feel free to call us at 9205727761.