Hyderabad, Aug 18 (IANS) In a major crackdown on adulterated ghee manufacturing, Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team (H-FAST) of the Hyderabad Police conducted inspections at 130 establishments and seized 36 tonnes of adulterated ghee and processing materials.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar told a media conference on Tuesday that H-FAST, in coordination with the Food Safety Department, conducted a massive, synchronised special enforcement drive across the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate against illicit ghee manufacturing and commercial selling units.
Acting on credible intelligence and actionable tip-offs received from the public, joint enforcement teams carried out simultaneous inspections at a total of 130 establishments, comprising 39 ghee manufacturing units and 91 ghee-selling outlets.
During the extensive inspections, the teams unearthed large-scale adulteration operations where spurious, substandard ingredients and hazardous, unauthorised chemical substances were being systematically mixed to produce synthetic ghee.
This adulterated mixture was deceptively packaged, branded, and distributed to unsuspecting consumers under the guise of “pure desi ghee”, posing grave health risks to the general public.
The enforcement teams seized a total of 36 tonnes of adulterated ghee, raw processing materials, and dangerous chemical additives. Food safety inspectors collected statutory samples on the spot for comprehensive laboratory analysis.
The entire seized stock and associated materials have been formally handed over to the Food Safety Authorities for further legal action, the Police Commissioner said.
The seized items include 25.5 tonnes of adulterated ghee, 8.7 tonnes of cream, 1,200 litres of palm oil, 600 litres of Vanaspati (Dalda), six bottles of artificial ghee flavours, and 30 kg starch.
Investigations revealed that certain manufacturers were allegedly preparing adulterated ghee using non-milk ingredients. Milk solids were mixed with palm oil, Dalda, and artificial ghee flavour to imitate the taste, aroma and appearance of genuine ghee.
Officials also found adulteration with skimmed milk powder (0 per cent milk fat), while palm oil, vanaspati and starch were being blended with artificial ghee flavour.
The adulterated products were packed in transparent covers and falsely marketed under names such as “100% Pure Ghee”, “Premium Ghee”, “Farm Fresh Ghee” and “Natural Ghee”. These packs did not carry mandatory details such as batch/lot number, FSSAI licence details, Certificate of Analysis (COA), date of manufacture/packing and expiry/use-by date.
The adulterated ghee, with adulteration levels ranging from approximately 10 per cent to 40 per cent, was selectively diverted to different end-users based on the degree of adulteration.
The milk cream used in the manufacturing process was procured from suppliers located in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
The adulterated ghee was manufactured at very low-cost using cheaper substitute ingredients and was subsequently sold in the market as original ghee at higher prices, thereby generating substantial illegal profits.
The adulterated ghee was reportedly distributed across Telangana and neighbouring states and supplied to dairy shops, sweet shops, hotels, star hotels, tiffin centres, bakeries, caterers and Ayurvedic medicine shops, thereby posing a serious risk to public health, the Commissioner said.
–IANS
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