Milk fraud by the addition of whey using an artificial neural network

Abstract

The adulteration of milk by the addition of whey is a problem that concerns national and international authorities. The objective of this research was to quantify the whey content in adulterated milk samples using artificial neural networks, employing routine analyses of dairy milk samples. The analyses were performed with different concentrations of whey (0, 5, 10, and 20%), and samples were analyzed for fat, non-fat solids, density, protein, lactose, minerals, and freezing point, totaling 164 assays, of which 60% were used for network training, 20% for network validation, and 20% for neural network testing. The Garson method was used to determine the importance of the variables. The neural network technique for the determination of milk fraud by the addition of whey proved to be efficient. Among the variables of highest relevance were fat content and density.