PUNE: The massive crackdown on adulterated milk in Maharashtra last month prompted the state government to make protein-testing mandatory for dairies before they procure milk. If milk failing this test, dairies have been instructed to treat it as adulterated and immediately destroy it, an official concerned with the development said.

The order was passed recently. Known in the industry as Pynes method, the six minute test uses potassium oxalate, phenolphthalein indicator and neutral formaldehyde to estimate the percentage of protein in the milk. This test is quicker than any other to check milk adulteration.

The food and drugs administration in August unearthed a racket supplying synthetic milk to Pune from a village in Phaltan taluka of Satara district. The racket was found to be using palmolein oil, Sorbitol (sugar alcohol) and sodium lauryl ether sulfate (a detergent) to make milk and sell it in five districts. A series of raids in Satara,

Solapur, Ahmednagar and Kolhapur districts had followed after that.

On September 17, the Pune Rural police seized 17,000 litres of adulterated milk from a dairy in Patas, a village near Pune, which is a supplier to a Mumbai-based dairy. The seized goods included quantities of milk to which had been added lactose powder, milk powder and caustic soda to increase the fat content. Food adulteration is a cognisable and non-bailable offence in Maharashtra following the state amendment in the food adulteration prevention act in January 2008.

The trigger for the recent order were the test reports of the milk seized in these raids, the official said. The milk seized from these raids had all the ingredients that the milk is normally tested for, including fat, SNF, lactose, etc. What it did not have was protein, which is always present in a fixed proportion in the milk.Explaining the relevance of the test, the official said: Milk is normally adulterated to increase the SNF levels.

But the adulterants being chemically inactive, increase the density of the milk, but reduce the protein levels. Testing lactose in the milk takes a lot of time, but the protein test takes only six minutes. Any adulteration in milk, including with water instantly disturbs the protein content in the milk. So this test is foolproof and can replace all other tests for detecting adulteration in milk.