India Considers Hiring Cow Urine Tasters to Crack Down on Counterfeits (2 Photos + 1 Video)
Market forces can be ruthless: wherever there is high demand, counterfeits inevitably follow. But Indian entrepreneurs have taken the fake goods market to an unprecedented new level. The country is facing a full-blown crisis over the mass counterfeiting of... sacred cow urine. 
To put the scale into perspective: in India, so-called "gomutra" (sacred cow urine) is a massive and highly lucrative business. Used in traditional medicine, Ayurveda, and religious rituals, locals believe it cures everything from acne to cancer, causing bottles of the healing liquid to fly off store shelves.
Local scientists even publish deadpan academic papers on the health benefits of cow urine
Naturally, crafty resellers couldn't pass up such a goldmine. Their scheme was ingeniously simple: buy pure urine from farmers, then dilute it with pee from far more "down-to-earth," non-sacred animals (like ordinary water buffaloes). 
Customers began complaining en masse that the miracle cure had lost its magic and the drink's "original bouquet" was completely ruined.
Since sending every batch to a chemical laboratory is far too slow and expensive, local activists have called on the government to take radical measures. They demanded the creation of an official state panel... of cow urine sommeliers.
The plan envisions recruiting people who have been steeped in traditional medicine and the "authentic" taste of the product since early childhood. These professional tasters would personally sample every batch headed for market by taste and smell. If it passes the test, the product receives a seal of quality and hits store shelves. If notes of buffalo are detected in the flavor, the reseller faces severe punishment.
The government is fiercely denying the claims, dismissing them as lies and insisting no such panel will ever be formed. In short: if anyone wants to verify the quality, they can taste it themselves.
