A visit to these markets would lead many to strike these milk products off the daily menu.In the walled city's Fatehpuri area, for instance, dozens of koondas that are used to set the curd lie scattered on the footpath outside the halwai shops, flies feasting on the remains from the previous night. The containers are given a wash at the handpump and filled up the lukewarm milk to set the curd for next day.

The water from the same shallow handpump also comes in handy for diluting the milk, even though a sign painted in red on the pump warns that the water is unfit for consumption. The paneer, too, lies piled up in large chunks near Gandhi Gali in Chandni Chowk, much as in Yusuf Sarai, exposed to the elements all day long. The local residents prefer to call it gandi gali (literally, the dirty street), due to the lack of cleanliness here.

The milk for the setting the curd in wholesale comes mostly from Dhankaur in UP, where a train load of 20-litre milk cans, collected from villages across the state, is unloaded. From here, the rusting cans make their way to various halwais on tempos. The paneer is brought to the wholesale markets from places like Garh Ganga and a trader sells upto 250 kg of it on a single day: all of it lies exposed on the roadside stall throughout the day, amidst grime and pollution.

While milk products may be among the best sources of nutrition, in Delhi, these also carry the risk of hepatitis C, cholera or gastroenteritis. Doctors insist it could cause what are known as typical monsoon diseases. Incidentally, the above mentioned markets cater to a sizable population of the city. Curd from here goes for straight consumption or is turned into `lassi', `dahi bhalla' etc at various shops in the respective regions.

``The weather is just right for the bacteria to thrive. Once the contamination sets in through water, unwashed hands or exposure, it could multiply rapidly and end up in the consumers' gut,'' cautions Dr Vikas Rampal, a senior medical officer at the Lok Nayak Hospital. Contrary to the popular belief, the curd's mild alkaline character does not provide any immunity from contamination.

Dr Rakesh Aga, a consultant with a joint sector corporate hospital assures that the risk of contracting infections from milk and milk products was just about as much as from other contaminated food items. Where paneer is concerned, he adds, the risk of infection is eliminated if deep fried before consumption. Curd offers no such advantage as it is consumed straight after purchase. So next time you take another spoonful of your favourite dish, check where it has come from.