What Delhi-NCR says about its milk? Survey reveals

One of the top concerns that consumers have regularly raised is the quality and purity of milk, and in some cases concerns about adulteration.

New Delhi: Although the price of milk has increased in the last two years, a large portion of the population in Delhi-NCR believe that the quality has not improved much. To understand the pulse of the consumers on their milk, online community platform LocalCircles conducted an extensive survey in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) to understand how households consume milk, their preferences, issues of quality and freshness. Consumers were asked about queries related to consumption as well as got them to question their milk supplier on the supply chain aspects to get a better understanding for their own benefit as well as make fact-based contributions to the survey exercise.

One of the top concerns that consumers have regularly raised is the quality and purity of milk, and in some cases concerns about adulteration. Out of the 9,356 respondents, two in three believe that the milk they consume is not pure and only one-third believe that they are getting pure cow or buffalo milk. Of the two-third respondents, 21 per cent believe the milk bought by them has some water, fat and milk powder added; another 21 per cent believe that besides water, fat and milk powder, the milk procured by them has adulterants; and 17 per cent believe the milk is being diluted with water.

In addition, 8 per cent of the respondents were uncertain about the quality of the milk they are consuming. Many consumers are also of the understanding that toned and double-toned milk has skim milk powder in it. Also, in community discussions, some consumers expressed concerns about external fat being added to milk in some cases in an attempt to achieve certain metrics.

Similarly, on asking how many litres of milk a household consumes each day, 58 per cent of households in Delhi-NCR shared that they purchase 1.5 litres or more per day. Of the 9,230 responses received to the query, 37 per cent of households shared that they consume 1.5-2 litres of milk on a daily basis; 11 per cent consume 2.5 to 3 litres; and 10 per cent consume over 3 litres. On the other hand, 28 per cent of households indicated they consume 1 litre and 14 per cent consume only half a litre.

In effect, nearly one in three households in Delhi-NCR consume half to one litre of milk every day. As per the survey, nearly 48 per cent of the 9,008 respondents said that their milk is being transported anywhere between 250-500 km before reaching them. Another sizable chunk, 47 per cent, felt that milk being bought by them reached them after being transported over 500-1000 km.

Just 1 per cent of the respondents felt the travelling distance was over 1,000 km, while another 1 per cent were uncertain. Only 3 per cent of the respondents said that their milk came from within a 250-km distance. (IANS)