The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Vice President, CSIR Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated Systems for Detection of Adulteration and analysis of Milk.  Dr. Harsha Vardhan pointed that our country ranks number one across the world for milk production, contributing to about 18% of the world’s total milk. But it is feared that over 60% of the milk is contaminated due to malpractices in milk supply chain which includes dilution with unsafe water. The milk is otherwise said to be adulterated with contaminants such as urea, salt, detergent, liquid soap, boric acid, caustic soda, soda and hydrogen peroxide which have hazardous health effects.

The CSIR’s ‘Ksheer-Scanner’ instantaneously detects the above-identified adulterants in milk. It is a low- cost portable system with user-friendly features. It enables detection of contaminants in just 40-45 seconds at the per sample cost of less than 50 paise. The minimum detection levels of major contaminants are: Urea: 1 gm/l; salt: 2 gm/l; detergent: 2 gm/l; soap: 1%; and soda: 1 gm/l.

The ‘Ksheer Scanner’ system offers automated scanning of raw milk samples at milk collection points. He remarked that it is safe to use and ideal for installation at milk collection centres of milk societies at village and tehsil levels. The system can also be useful for on-the-spot milk testing by food inspectors.

The ‘Ksheer-Tester’ is a handheld device with a single button operation that allows for detection of adulterants in less than 60 seconds.  The ‘Ksheer-Scanner Plus’ is planned to be an integrated system aimed at detecting adulteration in milk as well as analysing the quality of milk. Efforts are being made to deploy this technology in the next few months.