Millions of people buy all kinds of dairy products in supermarkets. There are times when people do not care what brand the dairy product is since they always expect that it’s safe to consume.
Manufacturers are always making sure that the dairy products they make and send out to the public are 100% clean. Before milk gets sent out to stores everywhere, they need to be tested first to ensure there won’t be any harmful contaminants that consumers will ingest.
There are reliable and professional milk testing laboratories in India that you can turn to if you happen to have your milk manufacturing business situated there.
The Importance of Testing Milk
You may have heard of the word “adulteration,” and it’s a common phrase used by various companies when talking about cheaply made products. You can say the same thing about dairy.
What you need to know is that milk contains at least 87% water, which is prone to heavy adulteration. Several dairy manufacturing companies tend to do this because they want to cut down on production costs significantly.
It includes the number of workers, the number of sanitation tools and equipment they use, and the area they use to manufacture their dairy products. Without milk testing, adults, children, and even animals who consume dairy will get easily sick.
Aside from eliminating adulterated dairy products, the milk needs to run proper testing to ensure that it has nutritional value. Some brands would state that their milk has these healthy properties that will benefit people when consumed.
It can also be considered as another form of dairy product adulteration since it is scamming people by giving them false information. Milk has to contain the necessary vitamins and minerals, such as potassium, B12, Vitamin D, and calcium.
These vitamins and minerals can sometimes be erased during the manufacturing stage because of machine issues, mishandling of other substances, etc.
How to Determine the Milk Quality
If you are a consumer, you need to know how to check the quality of milk. There are various methods, both simple and complicated, you can use to do this.
The simplest one is the Organoleptic test, where you open a dairy product and consume a bit of it. And if you don’t want to ingest it, you can also smell it and tell if it’s spoiled or has a different smell than the usual.
And if you want to detect if there are common impurities in milk like water, it’s as easy as placing a drop of milk on a smooth, slanted surface. Pure milk will leave a trail of milk as it slowly travels.
Whereas with adulterated milk, it will never leave a trail, and it also travels quickly compared to the pure milk. This method of personally testing the quality of milk is essential for consumers who want to get the most vitamins and minerals out of milk.
Milk can contain a substance called “urea,” which is present in a cow’s urine. But even so, it can sometimes pass through into the milk, contaminating it in the process. A simple method of determining if the milk has urea is by taking a tiny bit of the milk into a small glass, or preferably a test tube.
Add half a teaspoon of arhar powder, or soybean, and mix the contents in the test tube vigorously by shaking it. One 5 minutes pass, dip a litmus paper of red color in the test tube, and remove it after 30 seconds. If the red paper changes to blue, it’s a clear sign of urea mixed with the milk.
Know What Dairy Product You Are Ingesting
Now that you know about some of the adulteration methods for dairy, finding the right type of dairy product for you will be easy from now on. Everyone knows that dairy contains a mineral called calcium, and it is an essential mineral for our body.
Aside from ensuring your bones stay healthy, there are other benefits you might not be aware of. One of those benefits is that moderately consuming dairy products is one way of helping with a Mediterranean diet.
The diet usually includes other healthful fats such as fish, olive oil, and even fruits and vegetables. A meta-analysis stated that incorporating dairy into the diet can, specifically, yogurt, could help protect the person from type 2 diabetes.
Another study was conducted that people who consumed more dairy products had a 23% lower risk of getting type 2 diabetes than the others who consumed the least amount of high-fat dairy.
You won’t have to be worried all the time about whether your milk is contaminated or not because there are milk testing laboratories to ensure the milk you buy is safe for consumption.
