Gap in supply and demand: Impact on milk safety

Milk is a commonly consumed complete food by people of various age groups. Milk adulteration is a rising public health concern. India, a developing nation, faces a huge gap between the demand and supply due to shortage in milk production. The present review article attempts to understand the standards laid down by Food Safety and Security Authority of India (FSSAI) for milk quality. To achieve this quality and the need to bridge the demand and supply gap of milk lays a huge impact to the daily lives of individuals. This is the major reason for the rise in adulteration of milk. In order to meet the quality standards and shelf life, chemicals are added to adulterated milk and prolonged consumption of adulterated milk has long lasting health ill-effects which can even be fatal. Therefore, detection of adulterants in milk becomes mandatory and of utmost importance from both the standpoint of an individual’s heath and from food safety perspective for larger public good.