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Milk adulteration is a dangerous practice that can impact human health in numerous ways. What’s worse? Drinking adulterated milk can even impose life-threatening situations. Keep reading to learn about adulterated milk’s meaning and ways to perform the milk test at home!
Milk is a superfood and is an indispensable part of the diet in India. From very young children to the elderly, it is consumed by people of all ages. Not to mention, it is considered a superfood rich in vital nutrients like protein, calcium, and more.
However, these things are only true when the milk is in its purest form. Today, milk adulteration has become a serious concern in the country. We hear about milk adulteration by dairy farmers and suppliers on a daily basis. The results?
Drinking adulterated milk not only prevents you from getting essential nutrients but can also have serious impacts on your health. In fact, it can even impose life-threatening situations in the worst cases. While some of these situations can be covered by your health insurance, it is important to detect and stop consuming tampered milk for better and safe health.
But how to perform a milk purity test? That’s exactly what we will discuss in this blog. We will help you understand adulterated milk meaning along with some ways to detect if the milk is safe to drink or not. Keep reading!
What is Milk Adulteration?
The first and perhaps the most critical step towards maintaining good health is to understand the difference between healthy food and unhealthy food. Since milk is a complete food, it is important to detect whether it is safe or adulterated before consuming it. But what exactly is food adulteration in milk?
Milk adulteration refers to the process of degrading the quality of milk intentionally. This is usually done by either adding certain inferior substances or removing the essential elements from the milk. This practice is usually done by some unethical dairy farmers and vendors to increase the quantity of milk to make their business more profitable
How Common is Milk Adulteration in India?
Milk adulteration has become a common practice in India. As per the “National Milk Safety and Quality Survey” carried out in 2018, 12 out of 6,432 milk samples were found laced with adulterants. Apart from this, around 68% of milk is adulterated in India.
Common Types of Milk Adulterants and Their Harmful Effects
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning for India that if milk adulteration is not stopped, a major chunk of the country's population might face life-threatening health problems by the end of 2025. This warning is enough to realise the extent to which milk adulteration is spread in the country.
Note that the harmful effects of adulterated milk depend on the type and nature of the adulterant used. The following are the most common types of milk adulterants and their health consequences:
Water: Water is the most common type of milk adulterant used on a large scale in India. While it is not harmful, it reduces the nutritional value of the milk, making it useless.
Moreover, if the water used is contaminated, it can lead to serious health issues like cholera, jaundice, diarrhoea, hepatitis A, and more. Since contaminated water also contains pesticides, it can have many other adverse effects on human health.
Starch: A high amount of starch in milk can cause diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal problems like gas and bloating. Moreover, higher quantities of starch can impose serious health risks on diabetic patients.
Urea: Urea is another dangerous substance used for tempering milk. Consumption of milk containing urea can lead to nausea, vomiting, and gastritis. Moreover, if added in large amounts, urea can have serious impacts on the liver, heart, and kidneys.
Detergent: It may sound unreal, but detergent is also used for adulterating milk. It is used for maintaining the thickness and whiteness of milk after diluting it with water.
Note that detergents contain large amounts of sodium lauryl sulfate, dioxin, and phosphates that are extremely dangerous for human health. Besides, dioxane can potentially cause cancer and phosphate is known for causing skin irritation and nausea.
Oxytocin: Oxytocin is a hormone which is not directly added to the milk. Instead, dairy farmers use the oxytocin injections on their cattle to produce more milk. This leads to the transfer of small quantities of oxytocin in milk as well.
Consuming such milk not only causes hormone imbalance in males and females but also leads to many other serious issues such as male breasts, early breast growth in young girls, eye loss, memory loss, kidney problems, heart ailments, irregular menstrual flow and so on.
Besides, the use of oxytocin injections is very harmful to cows and buffaloes as well. It badly impacts their reproductive systems.
Hydrogen Peroxide: Hydrogen peroxide is used to increase the shelf life of milk. It basically prevents the growth of bacteria in the milk and prevents it from curdling. Consuming milk adulterated with hydrogen peroxide can result in heart-related ailments. It can increase your heart rate and may cause cardiac arrhythmia.
Apart from that, such milk can also lead to several gastrointestinal problems. What is even more alarming is the fact that hydrogen peroxide-rich milk can reduce your life expectancy and may cause early ageing.
Formalin (Formaldehyde): Formalin is a formaldehyde used as a disinfectant. It is also used for preserving dead bodies. Believe it or not, this compound is added by some milkmen to milk in order to increase its shelf life and to cut electricity and refrigeration costs.
Talking about its health impacts, formalin can cause skin and eye diseases. It can also result in inflammation and ulcers in your gastrointestinal tract. Most importantly, formalin may also increase the risk of cancer.
How to Detect Milk Adulteration at Home?
While detecting the presence of advanced adulterants such as oxytocin, formalin, and hydrogen peroxide requires lab tests, there are some easy ways to detect milk adulteration at home for common adulterants. By testing your milk for the presence of nasty adulterants, you can ensure its purity and your family’s safety.
The table below shows how you can perform a milk adulteration test at home without any milk testing kit:
Milk Adulterants |
How to Detect |
Water |
Put a tbsp of milk on a polished and slightly slanted surface. If it flows slowly leaving a visible trail behind, it is pure. On the other hand, if it flows immediately without leaving any trail on the surface, it is adulterated. |
Urea |
Take 1-2 tbsp of milk in a clean test tube and add about ½ tbsp of soybean powder to it. Mix the ingredients well and then dip a red litmus paper into the solution for a good five minutes. If the colour of litmus paper turns to blue from red, your milk is laced with urea. |
Starch |
You can check the presence of starch in your milk by adding a few drops of tincture iodine, which turns blue if the milk contains starch. Instead of iodine tincture, you can also use a simple iodine solution. |
Synthetic Milk |
You can detect this type of milk by rubbing it between your fingers. It usually feels soapy and turns yellowish on heating. Moreover, you can also perform a synthetic milk test by tasting it. If it tastes a bit bitter, it is synthetic. |
Detergent |
To confirm whether or not your milk contains detergent, take equal portions of milk and water in a bottle and shake it rigorously. If the solution turns foamy or forms a thick lather, it contains detergent. |
Final Words
Milk is a complete food in itself. It is essential for the growth and development of the human body. However, drinking adulterated milk can do the opposite. Not only does it take away the goodness of milk, but it also adds certain inferior substances that can be fatal to your health. Hence, it is very important to ensure the purity of milk before consuming it.
We have discussed the adulterated milk meaning, the harmful effects of adulterated milk and ways you can perform milk adulteration tests at home. We hope it helps you in ensuring better health and safety of your family.
