Vadodara/Anand: Consumers will soon be able to check milk for common adulterants at home using a Rs 241 colour-change testing kit launched by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), bringing laboratory-style screening for substances such as urea and starch to the kitchen counter.Anand-headquartered National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has launched three milk adulteration detection kits, including a household version priced at Rs 241.The kits were among four farmer-centric initiatives launched by Union dairying minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh at the NDDB headquarters in Anand on Friday.Singh called for large-scale implementation and commercialisation of the milk testing kits and other technologies unveiled at the event.Developed by NDDB and to be manufactured by its wholly owned subsidiary NDDB CALF Ltd, the kits use a colour-based chemical reaction. A small quantity of milk is mixed with specific reagents, and the resulting colour change indicates the presence or absence of an adulterant. Testing takes from a second to five minutes.The small kit, meant for household use, can detect four adulterants: urea, starch and cereal flours, neutralisers, and hydrogen peroxide. It contains five tests for each adulterant, providing 20 tests in total, and is priced at Rs 241.The medium kit is designed for wider testing and can detect five adulterants: urea, starch, neutralisers, salt and sugar. It offers 100 tests for each adulterant, or 500 tests in all.The large kit can detect nine adulterants: urea, ammonia fertilisers, nitrate fertilisers, starch and cereal flours, sugar/sucrose, glucose, salt, neutralisers and hydrogen peroxide.“The kits are designed to be compact, portable and easy to use, with an improved colour comparison chart to help users interpret results. Each batch will undergo performance testing and carry a QR code for accessing its batch verification report. The kits have a shelf life of nine months under ambient conditions,” an official from NDDB CALF Ltd said.Singh stressed the need for the technology to be adopted on a large scale, particularly to strengthen quality testing at the grassroots level and dairy collection points. He said India is the world’s largest milk producer but faces challenges in increasing the share of the organised dairy market and ensuring the quality of milk and milk products.NDDB chairman Meenesh Shah said the initiatives reflected the board’s focus on making the dairy sector safer, more efficient, transparent and modern. He said NDDB was working with state govts and milk unions to establish new dairy cooperatives and strengthen existing ones under White Revolution 2.0.Other initiatives launched at the event included 10g butter chiplets developed by Mother Dairy, a battery-operated 300-litre mobile milk collection and cooling system designed by NDDB and manufactured by its subsidiary IDMC Ltd, and DARPAN, an integrated document management system being implemented at NDDB.The mobile system enables direct milk collection in rural areas, including weighing, quality testing and receipt generation, and is equipped with IoT-based monitoring.
