Is that milk? One in three samples fails quality tests nationwide

As India's dairy production reaches record highs, synthetic milk rackets are compromising the nation's foundational staple

For most Indians, the day begins with a cup of tea or a glass of milk — a ritual so deeply embedded in the national psyche that the provenance of what fills those cups is rarely questioned.

 

Authorities in Sabarkantha, Gujarat, recently uncovered an illicit dairy operation where 300 litre of genuine milk was “stretched” into nearly 1,800 litre of a synthetic substitute daily — fortified with detergent, urea and caustic soda — and distributed to villages for nearly five years.

 

In Madhya Pradesh, the Enforcement Directorate last year raided nine properties linked to a dairy company that allegedly used 63 forged laboratory certificates to export adulterated milk products to Bahrain, Singapore, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Out of every three milk samples tested nationwide in recent years, one has failed quality checks. As many as 38 per cent of samples were found adulterated in FY25, raising serious concerns about what reaches people’s homes every morning.

 

In a decade, India’s milk production surged by 63.56 per cent, climbing from 146 million tonnes in FY15 to 239 million tonnes in FY24. Per capita milk availability has surged by 48 per cent over the last decade, reaching a record high of 471 grams per person daily in FY24. The world average is about 322 grams. The country’s dairy industry clocked 3.78 per cent cumulative annual growth rate in FY24, more than double the global average of 1.5 per cent. 

 

The proportion of adulterated milk samples rose by 16.64 percentage points between FY15 and FY18, before falling sharply to 1.68 per cent in FY20 — a pandemic-hit year that recorded the steepest decline in testing volumes. However, by FY22, the trend reversed dramatically; with only 798 samples analysed, half were found to be adulterated, marking the highest rate of contamination recorded since FY15. 

 

The 2022 FSSAI Milk Surveillance Report analysed 798 samples, comprising 394 pasteurised and 404 unpasteurised varieties. Of the unpasteurised samples, nearly half — 46.78 per cent — originated from North India. The West accounted for 22.77 per cent, followed by the South at 17.82 per cent and the East at 12.62 per cent.

 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has flagged unpasteurised milk as unsafe, primarily due to the presence of antibiotic residues. To ensure compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the authority maintains a regime of regular surveillance and random sampling across all states; the 2022 report remains the most recent official publication on these findings. 

 

Adulterants such as urea, detergent, starch and formalin are frequently added to milk to artificially increase volume, thicken texture, or extend shelf life. While short-term consumption can trigger acute gastric distress and digestive illness, long-term exposure poses far graver risks — including a higher incidence of heart disease and carcinogenic effects.

 

Milk is a foundational staple for all ages — a vital source of protein, fat, and energy. Yet the data confirms that adulteration is no fluke; it is a systemic crisis quietly compromising a food millions trust every day.