India is the world's largest producer and consumer of milk. It is said that 150 million tons of milk are produced every year.
In September 2008, the food regulatory agency FSSAI banned the import of all milk and dairy products from China. The government subsequently extended the ban from time to time. Two weeks ago, the government extended the ban on imports of milk and its products (including chocolate) from China until the port laboratory was upgraded to detect the presence of the toxic chemical melamine.
According to Bloomberg Quint’s report, the State Administration of Foreign Trade said in a notice that “the ban on the import of milk and milk products (including chocolate, chocolate products, sweets/candies/food preparations containing milk or milk solids) from China’s laboratories has been extended. , Until the capabilities of all laboratories at ports of entry have been appropriately upgraded to detect melamine."
India is the world's largest producer and consumer of milk. It is said that 150 million tons of milk are produced every year.
In 2008, there was an incident of melamine contamination of milk and infant formula in China. This resulted in the death of 6 babies and the hospitalization of nearly 50,000 babies. The World Health Organization said that this incident is one of the biggest food safety incidents it has had to deal with in recent years, and the confidence crisis of Chinese consumers will be difficult to overcome.
Melamine was first synthesized by German scientists in the 1830s. It is a white powder used in plastic manufacturing. It is most commonly used to make Formica, floor tiles, whiteboards and kitchen utensils.
Although there is very little information about the long-term adverse effects of melamine pollution in the body, reports indicate that even if the victims of kidney stones from drinking contaminated milk are removed, melamine may crystallize into tiny kidney tubes that block connecting pipes. This can cause damage to the kidneys and even cause kidney failure.
Symptoms and signs of melamine poisoning include irritability, hematuria, oliguria or anuria, signs of kidney infection, and high blood pressure.
As researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore developed a handheld device to detect traces of melamine in milk, the process became simple, fast and inexpensive.
According to a report published in The Hindus, SCG Kiruba Daniel from the Department of Instruments and Applied Physics of IISc and the first author of the paper said: "Melamine in milk can be detected in a few seconds at room temperature. Color changes. Our sensor has very high sensitivity because it can even detect low concentrations of 0.5 ppm melamine in raw milk."
The Food Safety and Standards Agency of India stated that the melamine content in infant formula milk powder exceeds 1 ppm, and the melamine content in other foods exceeding 2.5 ppm should be regarded as adulteration.
The equipment costs about 5,000 rupees and allows people to test milk at home instead of sending it to a laboratory, where testing by the machine costs hundreds of thousands of rupees. National and international patent applications for this innovation have been submitted.
This is another advantage for Indian innovators, who continue to develop low-cost, equally effective alternatives to expensive equipment.
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