Do you think drinking raw milk is healthier?

Do you think drinking raw milk is healthier?

Drinking raw milk is not at all healthy. It does not prevent or cure any diseases, such as asthma, allergies, heart disease.

There are no any health benefits from drinking raw milk (milk that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful germs). But pasteurized milk is healthy as it is free of disease-causing bacteria.

Pasteurization is the process of heating milk to a high-enough temperature for a long-enough time to kill illness-causing bacteria contained in the milk.

There were times when millions of people became sick and died of diseases like tuberculosis, scarlet fever, typhoid fever and other infections that were transmitted through raw milk.

Raw milk contains bacteria, and some of them can be harmful. So, if you’re thinking about consuming raw milk because you believe that it is a good source of beneficial bacteria, you need to know that it is not. You may instead get sick from the harmful bacteria.

So never drink raw milk but drink milk boiled on moderate temperature. 

Boiling of Milk

       Boiling of Milk

If you believe boiling of milk at high temperature keeps the nutrients in milk intact, then you are probably wrong.

As per a study published in The Journal of American Science, boiling of milk is

recommended as follows:

Milk boiling for two minutes provides the required safety. However, continuous stirring is essential, particularly at boiling temperature, to make sure that the formed foam is exposed to boiling temperature.

A large number of people heat and re-heat the same milk again and again, and that too at a high temperature for a long time, thus killing the nutrients.

According to experts, milk subjected to less heating retains its nutrient value. Experts say milk should ideally be boiled not more than twice and not for more than 2 to 3 minutes.

How to buy pure honey from the adulterated ones

How to buy pure honey from the adulterated ones

Here are a few simple tests you can do at home to check if your honey is pure or impure:

Read the label

The first thing you should do before buying a jar of honey is read the label and check that the ingredient list doesn’t contain ‘high-fructose corn syrup’ or commercial glucose. These two additives that are frequently used to ‘stretch’ the honey and keep it from solidifying.

Solidification of the honey

All honey is liquid, but with time they tend to solidify, or ‘crystallize’ into a substance resembling grains of sugar. If you buy a jar of honey that is already crystallized, it is pure. If your honey is liquid, you can wait a few days to see if it solidifies or throw it in the fridge to accelerate the process. If the honey never crystallizes, there is a high probability that it is adulterated honey.

Jewellery Hallmark

Jewellery Hallmark

               What Sign One Should Check Before Purchasing Gold Jewellery?

               One must check hallmark before purchasing gold jewellery.                                          Hallmark consists of  five components, they are:

1.     BIS Standard Mark

2.     Purity Grade:

Gold Purity grade shows how pure the gold is:

Pure gold has 999 – 24 carat purity grade.

3.  Mark of Hallmarking Centre:

One must check for logo of hallmarking centre where the jewellery has been hallmarked.

4.     Year of Marking:

Alphabets represent the year of hallmarking of jewellery and are decided by BIS, for e.g. letter A denotes year 2000, similarly J for 2008, N for 2010, M for 2011, and N for 2012 etc.

5.     Jewelers Identification Mark:

Many jewelers keep their own identification mark as BIS certified jeweler.

Please ensure you look for jewellery showrooms selling BIS Hallmark jewelery.

Buy Hallmark Jewellery only. It assures the mark of purity.

Ask for cash memo or invoice which will help BIS to resolve complaints if any.

What is AGMARK?

What is AGMARK?

AGMARK means Agriculture Mark is a certification mark employed on agricultural products in India. Products bearing AGMARK assure that they conform to a set of standards approved by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, an agency of the Government of India.

• AGMARK is quality Certification Mark of the Government of India.

• Products certified under AGMARK confirm to the scientifically laid down quality standards.

• AGMARK certified products are processed packed in hygienic conditions.

When you buy any of the following agricultural products like

• Vegetable Oils • Blended Edible Vegetable Oils

• Spice (whole and powdered) • Powdered Mixed Spices

• Compounded Asafoetida (Hing) • Cereals and Pulses

• Ghee, Butter, Fat Spread • Honey and many more items of daily use.

Please check if these products bear a certified AGMARK on them. And buy only AGMARK certified products. 

How well do you know a genuine ISI Mark?

How well do you know a genuine ISI Mark?

How well do you know a genuine ISI Mark:

The BIS Standard Mark (ISI Mark) is a quality mark.

This is a certification mark of the bureau of Indian standards (BIS), which was earlier called the Indian standards institution (ISI).

Most consumers prefer ISI Marked products. With the growing demand of ISI marked products, the instance of misuse of ISI Mark is also on the rise.

Unscrupulous manufacturers are trying to cheat the consumers by marking products with ISI Mark without obtaining the valid licence from BIS.

Every ISI symbol has a 7-digit number below it.

Now the 7-digit number is tricky. You pay attention to the first five digits only. And work backwards.

You start with the 5th digit. Multiply that by 1 Then go to the 4th, multiply that by 2. Next comes, yes, the 3rd digit - multiply that by 3. Mulitply the 2nd  digit by 4 and the  1st digit by 5.

Then you add all the numbers you get. The total will be the exact same number as the last two digits.

Take this number as an example: ISI 7 9 0 9 3 9 2

3 x 1 = 3; 9 x 2 = 18; 0 x 3 = 0; 9 x 4 = 36; 7 x 5 = 35;

Add 3+18+0+36+35 = 92

And there you have it, unless the fake ISI symbol makers can do basic math themselves and create a plausible number.

One important fact to remember is that if a product is popular, you can be sure there will be a lot of fakes made.

The smart thing to do, is to always buy your products from a credible and reliable outlets. Get a receipt and keep it. If you find that the product bears a fake ISI mark and then send your complaints by logging on to www.bis.org.in or report it to ddgenf@bis.org.in.

Your medical records

Patients can demand their medical records up to three years from their doctors or hospitals

Do you know that your physician is bound to maintain your medical records for three years? And you can request your medical records from your physician any time when you need them.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has emphasised that it is obligatory on doctors and hospitals to provide a copy of the medical record to a patient or his legal representative within 72 hours of the request being made. Hospitals must provide medical record to patients.

As per law, medical records belong to the medical professionals/entities but patients have a right to review them, demand copies of them, and demand their confidentiality as per the Medical Council of India (MCI) regulations.  

Every physician has to maintain medical records pertaining to his/her indoor patients for three years from the date of commencement of treatment as per the regulations.