When buying milk from stores one should first pay attention to the integrity of the container. The container shall not have damaged places, regardless of its material (polymer, cardboard, etc.).
The product name, volume, richness, production date and storage period, energy value, information about the producer, as well as guidance for storage and data related to normative documents shall be marked in the Armenian language on the container with an indelible paint or special labels.
One shall first of all pay attention to milk color, odor and taste at home. Color shall be pure white.
One of the options of milk counterfeiting is to falsify it by starch. There shall not be any starch in milk, but producers add it for maintaining milk density. The presence of starch can be checked by iodine solution. If you drip one iodine drop into milk, and milk receives yellow-brown tint in drop place, then there is no starch supplement in milk. If milk receives bluish tint in drop place, then starch is present therein.
The other case of milk counterfeiting is done by soda. Soda is extremely harmful for stomach, but producers add soda for avoiding milk acidity and extending the storage period. Soda presence in milk at home conditions can be checked by litmus paper. Milk hydrogen concentration is 6.7-7 pH which is considered neutral. Dip litmus paper in milk and compare the received color with the color scale index characterizing acidity quantity. If color index is equal to the index of neutral milk which is 6.7-7 pH then milk acidity is normal.
There are also cases when milk is diluted with water. At home conditions drip a drop of milk on filter paper and follow its drying. The more fat the milk has and the less it is diluted with water the later it dries and the wet area around the drop is small.
Dilution of milk with water can be checked by the help of gypsum. Wet the ordinary gypsum dust with milk and mix. If milk is normal, then gypsum mixture stiffens no sooner than 10 hours. The sooner than 10 hours the mixture stiffens the more diluted with water the milk is.
Milk shall be kept at +4օC temperature at home conditions.