It has come to the notice of the District Administration that some unscrupulous people are making and selling spurious milk to make a fast buck.
According to sources, the illegal business of spurious milk and milk products are rampant in Bhind and Morena and there is fear that some of that contaminated milk has reached Gwalior too.
The people who produce this spurious milk use chemicals to make it. One liter of good quality milk is mixed with starch, shampoo, urea, some refine or hydrogenated oil to fulfill fat content requirements and sulphuric acid to make 80 liters of spurious milk. The total production cost of these 80 liters of milk is a meager Rs 250.00. This contaminated milk looks exactly like the real milk, so easily can be passed onto unsuspecting customers.
In the same way contaminated Ghee is also made by mixing refined oil, boiled potato, shampoo and sulphuric acid with a small quantity of real ghee. This ghee is sold in the market for Rs 70.00 per kilo.
Speaking to the media persons, Dr Ajay Pal Singh of JAH Group of Hospitals said that consumption of such spurious milk and milk products can lead to liver and kidney damages. As shampoo is a major constituent of the contaminated milk, the digestive system too will be affected. He added that the presence of urea can cause cancer.
District Collector Anurag Chaudhary has instructed all the SDMs in the city to keep a strict vigil and check the sale of spurious milk and milk products in their respective areas and take strict action against any sellers of such products.
According to the volunteers of the Consumer Awareness Forum there are some means by which contaminated milk can be recognized.
They said that if there is a smell similar to that of a detergent soap emitting from the milk, it is spurious and should not be consumed. The taste of spurious milk will be somewhat bitter as it contains shampoo and acids. They added that contaminated milk will change its colour to yellow after a couple of hours.