After 60 years, India will establish new national milk safety standards to standardise benchmarks for determining adulteration. India currently follows guidelines set in 1954, which only recognise milk as "milk from cow, sheep, buffalo and goat". However, the rise of camel, yak milk, hybrid cattle, as well as incorporate flavoured and fortified milk has created a "need to revisit old standards to ensure people eat and drink quality food,” Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the country’s food-safety regulator told Hindustan Times. Today Morning, You Probably Drank Detergent, Caustic Soda, Paint and Oil With Your Daily Glass Of Milk

Almost 70% of milk sold in India is “adulterated”, because it doesn’t confirm to fat and solid non-fat (SNF) content standards, especially with regard to vitamins and minerals. These standards vary from state to state.

An FSSAI official said that: “Milk with water added is considered adulterated. It may be non-conforming to set standards but is essentially not unsafe to drink”. However, it lowers the percentage of fat, vitamins and minerals. Which is why the FSSAI seeks to create uniformity in the standards of milk imported from different states “We have adopted a three-pronged strategy, in which setting new standards is one component. The other two being commissioning a national-level survey to measure the quality of milk India is drinking and identify problem areas,” Agarwal said.

“We now have hybrid cattle and the quality of milk is changing naturally across country, which is why we need to revisit old standards,” the FSSAI official said. “Why should someone be persecuted if his or her cow or buffalo is producing milk with lower fat content than the permissible limit?” “Since camel milk is traded in some states, we have proposed 3% fat content and 6.5% SNF for camel milk. Yak milk is also being considered, though we are yet to set the criterion for it,” he said.