Now Detect Milk Adulteration With An App Devised By IIT Hyderabad Researchers

Long gone are those days when people would get fresh milk that wouldn¡¯t be diluted, adulterated or would differ in its colour or consistency. Over the years, milk colour has turned into pristine white, more dilute and has lacked consistency.

In fact, those who extract milk from cows in villages are aware that its colour is towards yellow and it has a particular smell to it. In order to make the product more favourable and commercially profitable over the years, its quality has deteriorated.

Photo: IIT Hyderabad campus/ IIT-H website

Now researchers at IIT Hyderabad are working on a developing a smartphone equipped with sensors that can detect the amount of adulteration in milk. The Times of India reported that as an initial step the researchers have developed a detector system to measure the acidity of milk through an indicator paper that changes colour depending on the level of adulteration.

The system works in a way in which algorithms can be incorporated into a mobile phone which will accurately detect the colour changes. The research idea has found a place in November 2018 issue of Food Analytical Methods journal. The research has been led by Professor Shiv Govind Singh.

Singh further said the available methods of milk adulteration detection such as chromatography and spectroscopy are expensive. Also, these methods cannot be converted into low cost easy to use devices and hence, do not appeal to the vast majority of milk consumers in the developing world.

Photo: BCCL

Thus, a need for simple, easy-to-use devices was experienced where consumers can also detect milk contamination. The prototype smartphone-based algorithm analyses the colour of sensor strips that are dipped in milk and then captured using the phone¡¯s camera.

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This image will then be converted into pH acidity ranges. After conducting a preliminary test, the team found an accuracy rate of 99.71 per cent for milk that was spiked with contaminants.

The statement cited a recent report by the Animal Welfare Board that stated that 68.7 per cent of milk and milk by-products in the country are adulterated with items like detergent, glucose, urea, caustic soda, white paint and oil. Chemicals such as formalin, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid and antibiotics could also be added to milk to increase shelf life.