Hyderabad Police and Food Safety Teams Seize 36 Tonnes of Adulterated Ghee

Enforcement officials in Hyderabad seized 36 tonnes of adulterated ghee, raw processing materials, and chemical additives following simultaneous raids across 130 establishments, Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar said on Tuesday.

The operation was carried out by the Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team (H-FAST) in coordination with the Food Safety Department, acting on actionable tip-offs received from the public. The teams conducted inspections across 39 ghee manufacturing units and 91 ghee-selling outlets.

During the drive, enforcement teams uncovered large-scale operations where spurious ingredients and unauthorised chemical substances were being mixed to produce synthetic ghee. The seized items included adulterated ghee, raw cream, palm oil, vanaspathi, artificial ghee flavours, starch, and chemical additives. Food safety inspectors collected statutory samples on the spot for laboratory analysis.

Police said manufacturers blended non-milk ingredients such as palm oil, vanaspathi, skimmed milk powder, starch, and artificial flavouring to mimic the aroma, taste, and appearance of authentic ghee. Some seized products contained no dairy components at all.

DCP (Task Force) Gaikwad Vaibhav Raghunath said the adulterated products were packed in transparent covers and falsely marketed under names such as "100 per cent pure ghee", "premium ghee", "farm fresh ghee", and "natural ghee". These packages lacked mandatory compliance details, including FSSAI licence information, batch or lot numbers, Certificate of Analysis details, manufacturing dates, and expiry dates.

The adulteration levels ranged from approximately 10 per cent to 40 per cent. Based on the degree of adulteration, the products were selectively supplied to sweet manufacturing units, restaurants, tiffin centres, ayurvedic shops, and sold as pooja ghee.

Investigators noted that milk cream for the manufacturing process was procured from suppliers in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The low-cost adulterated ghee was sold at high prices as original ghee to generate substantial illegal profits, with distribution extending across Telangana and neighbouring states. Police confirmed that they are in the process of registering cases.