Why processed milk is safe for you

Did you know that India tops the chart in milk production, globally? With its 75 million farmer families now producing more milk than all countries under European Union combined, India produces a whopping 144 million tonnes of milk yearly! India is also world’s largest consumer of dairy products. The Indian dairy sector not only contributes to the nation’s health but is also responsible for country’s economic growth, and also has a huge potential for export. Reportedly, our country accounts for 17 percent or 1/6th of the total global milk output. If these facts make you a proud Indian, it is time to be grateful to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) which launched ‘Operation Flood’ in 1970. The operation revolutionized milk production in India by empowering millions of small and marginal farmers through dairy cooperatives in villages and also ensuring better hygiene standards and improved packaging. [caption id=“attachment_2405186” align=“alignleft” width=“300”]  Image Courtesy: Getty Images[/caption] On the other hand, as and how the dairy sector has been making remarkable achievements, means of milk adulteration and contamination are also growing. For instance, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in 2010, recorded  70 percent of milk samples in Delhi as not conforming to standards. Adulteration in milk can be present in various forms. Adulterants can be ammonia fertilizers, starch, cereal flours, glucose, sugar, salt, maltodextrin, detergent, nitrate fertilizers, hydrogen peroxide, unhygienic pond water, neutralizers, vegetable oil and urea. The scale at which India is producing milk, adulteration can only be prevented by having standardized milk processing practices in place. Milk being a key source of nourishment for most households in India, its processing, storage, handling and testing on different grounds of adulterations has always been an important issue. How is processed packaged milk reliable? Pasteurization & processing of milk, improves the milk quality by killing pathogenic microbes and other micro-organisms that are present in the raw milk. Controlling with the use of reliable & advanced technology, brands like Mother Dairy guarantee high quality and great taste of milk. Milk undergoes various type of heat treatment like high temperature-short time (HTST) pasteurization or ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatment. HTST pasteurization of raw milk, helps in improving shelf life upto 48 hours when stored at refrigerated conditions. Ultra-high temperature (UHT) sterilization of raw milk, improves shelf life 3 to 6 months at room temperature. In HTST pasteurization process, the milk is heated for 15 seconds at 72 degrees Celsius, immediately after which it is cooled to less than 4 degree Celsius. Such pasteurized milk is then packaged in hygienic containers. The UHT process, on the contrary, heats milk for a very less time - just about a second or two at a temperature between 135 to 145 degrees Celsius. This is followed by cooling to ambient temperature and then packaged in bottles or packs under sterile condition. The Mother Dairy Innovation Mother Dairy has been a dynamic player in developing hygienic and safe, milk and milk products. For this, the dairy brand follows key approaches. Ensuring cleaning and sanitation by a process called Clean in Place (CIP) that adequately cleans processing, filling & storage equipments. Sanitary designed equipments are selected and used, to prevent cross contamination of milk during processing as well CIP. Pasteurizers are designed to keep pasteurized milk safe from contamination of raw milk, as per hygienic engineering requirements. Mother Dairy make sure that all milk particles are heated substantially and sufficiently thorough adequate length & design of holding coil in pasteurizers to ensure food safety. At Mother Dairy, during milk pasteurization heating as well as cooling temperatures are auto controlled through hi-tech flow diversion valves. Mother Dairy also keeps a check on temperature during transportation, through cold chain logistics. The popular dairy brand tests raw milk for physico-chemical parameters and adulterations (Fat & SNF replacers) at 4 stages of milk value chain namely farmer level, chilling center reception, chilling center dispatch & at dairy unit. The dairy uses potable water for standardization and equipment cleaning activities. At Mother Dairy, all raw milk samples are checked for adulterants, by color comparison methods, in laboratory.  Milk tankers with 100% compliance, are only accepted for processing. Mother Dairy’s achievement of adulterant-free milk Scientific approaches at Mother Dairy have ably controlled adulteration of raw materials, making it a leading brand in technology-based innovations for milk and milk products. Mother Dairy has been associated with a varied number of Indian Scientific Institutes for developing test kits to identify newly emerging food adulterants. It has also been able to patent a test method in identifying Maltodextrin adulterations in milk. Today, brand Mother Dairy is associated with prominent clientele the world over, making it a household name back home and a recognized food and dairy brand globally. Mother Dairy is also the only Indian Brand that was shortlisted in World Dairy Innovation Awards 2015 for three different categories. With the quality and safety standards and superior taste of its packaged dairy products, Mother Dairy made it to finals of three categories - Best Dairy Dessert Category (for Mother Dairy Aam Doi/Mishti Doi), Best Dairy Packaging Innovation category (for Mother Dairy Lassi Vending Machine) and Best Brand Marketing campaign/activation category (for Mother Dairy Campaign with “Taste That Lifts You”). This is a sponsored article.