Most milk sold in India poisonous, finds food regulator
11 Jan 2012
Most of the milk sold in India is unsafe to drink, a study by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India has found.
Water, of course, is the age-hallowed diluter. Other adulterants include starch, salt, glucose – and even pure poison like detergent powder and urea, apart from pesticides and heavy metals.
In its survey of 33 states, the official watchdog found that 68.4 per cent of 1,791 milk samples examined were contaminated.
The relatively prosperous urban India fared worse than the relatively poor rural districts. Nearly 70 per cent of samples from cities were found to be contaminated, compared with 31 per cent in rural areas.
In Delhi, 50 of 71 samples were found to be contaminated with glucose and skimmed milk powder. In other states and territories, detergent, fat, urea and water were found in 68.4 per cent of the samples.
Not a single sample out of 250 examined in West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Mizoram conformed to standards.