The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has dismantled an alleged inter-state network involved in the manufacture and distribution of suspected counterfeit ghee, seizing more than 6,500 litres of adulterated products and related raw materials during coordinated raids in Delhi and Haryana.
The operation was carried out by Central Food Safety Officers under the guidance of Devesh Kumar Mahla, Director of FSSAI’s Northern Regional Office, in coordination with local police authorities.
“We have seized around 6,500 litre of adulterated ghee. It was manufactured with vegetable and animal fat as per the lab report. It was a good operation with FSSAI making decoy and organised surveillance and action,” Mahla said.
According to FSSAI, the probe began after officials identified advertisements promoting premium cow ghee and regular ghee without mandatory licence details and prescribed labelling information.
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Officials then conducted a decoy operation, posing as consumers and purchasing samples of the products. Laboratory analysis by an FSSAI-recognised NABL-accredited facility found that the samples failed to meet prescribed standards for ghee and contained vegetable oils and other non-dairy constituents.
Based on the findings, enforcement teams traced the manufacturing and distribution network and carried out raids at multiple locations on June 17.
In Delhi, officials raided a facility in Dhulsiras village in Dwarka linked to an individual identified as Parit Ram. The team recovered around 1,020 litres of unidentified oil suspected to be used in producing counterfeit ghee and approximately 1,500 litres of suspected adulterated ghee.
In Haryana, a raid at M/S Bala Ji Food Products in Sonipat led to the seizure of more than 4,000 litres of suspected adulterated ghee that had allegedly been packaged for sale.
FSSAI said a formal complaint had been lodged with local police and an FIR registered. The seized stock has been placed under regulatory custody while statutory samples have been sent for further examination.
The regulator said investigations are continuing to identify other entities allegedly linked to the network and reiterated its zero-tolerance approach to food adulteration and misbranding.
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