Milk Adulterants: Serious Impact on Human Health

Abstract

Milk has been an indispensable part of our diet because of its rich content of vital nutrients. The demand and supply gap in milk production along with its perishable nature have resulted in the increased menace of milk adulteration. Various adulterants such as detergents, urea, ammonium salts, sodium chloride, nitrates, sulphates, salicylic acid, benzoic acid, hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde, boric acid, neutralisers and melamine present in the milk give rise to serious health problems such as nausea, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, renal failure, heart problems, asthma, pneumonia, cancer and allergic reactions. This paper describes the adverse health effects of consuming adulterated milk.

Keywords

• adulterants
• detergents
• food adulteration
• formalin
• hydrogen peroxide
• melamine
• milk
• neutralisers
• urea