All thanks to extreme commercialization, we have a cup of synthetic milk on our table. It is very much a reality now, have to face it. They have ways to produce toxic milk and we have ways to detect and abandon it. Let’s take a look at the scientific ways to detect milk adulteration-
Before that,
On what parameters do you call a food adulterated?
Generally, adulteration consists of an externally added substance (of inferior quality) to a food article. Entirely imitating a food article is also a form of adulteration.
All in all, anything that lowers the natural standards of a food article and hence affects health is called Adulteration.
So, you have a bottle of milk and you are unsure of its quality.
Without further ado, here are the simple tests you can perform for the various kinds of food adulteration in milk-
1. Water adulteration in milk
All you have to do is place a drop of milk on a polished surface. If the drop leaves a thick white trail and moves slowly, you can consider it as pure. Otherwise, It is adulterated with water.
Water adulteration is not of much harm to health unless the water mixed is contaminated. However, the nutritional value of the milk decreases for sure.
2. Detergent in Milk
Take the milk in a transparent bottle or tube. Shake it vigorously for around 50 seconds. Now, if it forms a thick layer of foam and froth, the milk is adulterated with detergent.
3. Detection of Starch in Milk
Starch is mixed in almost all milk products illegally. The solid way to detect starch adulteration is with a Tincture of Iodine.
Boil some milk and then add a few drops of Tincture of Iodine to the milk. If the milk turns blue– it’s a code red– milk is heavily adulterated with the starch.
4. Urea Adulteration in Milk
Mix 5gm Soybean powder with 10 ml of milk. Shake it well for around one minute in a test tube. You can take a small cup of glass at home. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
Dip a litmus paper for 30 seconds in the mixture. If the color changes from red to blue, the milk has urea in it.
5. Melamine in Milk
After the Chinese milk scam, Yi Lu (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) developed a pocket test for detecting the melamine in the milk. This is the simplest (with a Personal Glucose Meter) of the tests for melamine in the milk.
6. Formalin in milk
Can be detected only in the lab. Pour Milk(10 ml) + Sulphuric Acid (3 drops) in a test tube. The milk is adulterated with the formalin if a blue layer forms at the top of the test tube.
7. Vegetable oils in milk
This is also a laboratory test. Add Milk(3-4 ml)+Hydro Chloric Acid (HCL 9-10 drops)+Sugar(5-6 gms) in a test tube. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
If it turns red, the milk is adulterated with Vegetable oils.
8. Entirely Synthetic milk
You can detect entirely synthetic milk by mere observation. The synthetic/fake milk will turn yellowish after boiling. It will give a bitter taste after every sip you take.
Moreover, if you feel the synthetic milk by rubbing your fingers, it will give a soapy feeling, unlike the natural pure milk.
Why do people adulterate milk?
People do it to produce more milk and hence to generate more profits. Money simply overrules their morality. You can make synthetic milk 24×7 but you can’t milk a cow 24×7.
Conclusion
Adulterated milk can do more harm than good. Forget about nutrition, the body has to work against adulterated milk. So mentioned above are some simplest ways to detect milk adulteration.
Test the quality of the milk in your household with these methods. Save your kids and yourself from the poison of commercialization.
