The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India recently conducted a nationwide survey on milk adulteration. According to The Times of India, some 1,791 milk samples were collected across 33 states in India. The survey results indicated that 68.4 percent of the milk samples failed various quality tests.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority five regional offices conducted the survey, and samples of the milk were sent to various government laboratories. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted that 68.4 percent of the milk samples did not conform to established quality tests. Some of the tests date back to 2011; however the results were not released until the end of April 2015 when a question was tabled in the Indian parliament.
Some 47 percent of the milk samples were sub-standard for Fat and Solid Not Fat (SNF) contents. Furthermore, 548 samples (45 percent) of skim milk powder were found not to conform to the standards in terms of glucose content. Most concerning, 103 samples were adulterated with detergents. This was a mix of poor practices and segregation during processing and deliberate adulteration by the manufacturer.
According to the Indian Faculty of Food Safety and Quality, criminal action has been instigated against a number of offenders.
In terms of future safeguards, The Business Standard reports that local government authorities have instructed by the Department of Health and Family Welfare to put a plan in place to test samples of milk products at regular intervals.
