This is part 3 of 6 in ‘80 Failures, Fractures and Food-Safety Episodes That the Celebration of Indian Food Must Also Own’, an analysis by Avinash Mudaliar.
Adulteration at Scale
25. Paneer is too central to Indian eating to be treated as a niche story. In Noida and Greater Noida, officials collected 122 paneer samples between April 2024 and March 2025. When results for 83 had come back, the local food department told The Times of India that 83% of those samples failed quality standards and 40% were classified as unsafe. The figures describe a local set of samples with results available at the time. Compositional failure, a product labelled as a substitute and the fraudulent sale of a substitute as dairy paneer are distinct questions. The buyer needs to be able to tell what is being sold.
26. At a wedding meal, tracing a suspected source of illness is difficult for diners. In February 2025, dozens of guests fell ill after a wedding in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, in a reported case of suspected food poisoning. Establishing which dish caused an outbreak, or whether it contained an adulterant, takes an investigation and evidence from food samples. Guests rarely know who supplied the ingredients, how long a dish was held before service or what else was prepared alongside it. That is why records in bulk catering matter. When people fall ill, investigators need to be able to follow the meal back through the kitchen.
27. Milk testing needs to identify what has been added and in what quantity. In October 2026, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration destroyed 564 litres of milk after inspections in Mumbai. Separately, FSSAI recognises added urea as a possible adulterant. Because urea contains nitrogen, adding it can inflate estimates of protein based on nitrogen content. A finding has to distinguish added urea from the levels that occur naturally in milk. Milk is associated with nourishment, childhood and care. The reliability of a test matters when a familiar appearance tells the buyer so little.
28. A Pune raid offered a view of paneer production before the product reached a buyer. In March 2025, Pune police and Maharashtra’s food and drug authorities seized about 1,400 kg of suspected adulterated paneer at a unit in Manjri Khurd. The seizure was an enforcement action. The ingredients and composition of any product are questions for testing. Paneer is sold by its familiar colour and texture, while the buyer seldom has a view of what happens at the production unit. Records and sampling make it possible to test whether the product matches the description under which it was sold.
29. The first national milk survey showed why composition and safety need to be counted separately. In the 2011 FSSAI survey reported in 2012, 68.4% of 1,791 samples failed at least one requirement. Those tests covered composition as well as possible adulterants. A low reading for a compositional measure and the detection of an unsafe additive are different findings. FSSAI conducted further surveys in 2016 and 2018, with the later national milk survey using a larger sample and more consistent testing. The original survey brought welcome scrutiny to a supply chain in which the customer usually has to take the glass of milk on trust.
30. The 2003 Cadbury complaints showed how quickly a familiar brand could lose public confidence. Reports of worms in Dairy Milk bars emerged at shops in Maharashtra and Kerala. Cadbury attributed the problem to storage at retail outlets and launched Project Vishwas to address packaging, distribution and retail handling. It also enlisted Amitabh Bachchan. Rediff reported that Cadbury’s value share fell from 73% in October 2003 to 69.4% in January 2004. The episode put a spotlight on the last mile of packaged food. Trust depends on the condition of the bar when someone unwraps it.
31. The 2006 cola controversy put competing claims about pesticide residues before the public. The Centre for Science and Environment reported average total pesticide residues of 11.85 parts per billion in 57 soft-drink samples, nearly 24 times a draft Bureau of Indian Standards benchmark of 0.5 parts per billion for total residues. The benchmark was a proposed soft-drink standard. Kerala ordered a ban on the sale and manufacture of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products in August 2006, and the Kerala High Court quashed the order in September. A result, a proposed standard and an enforceable legal limit each answer a different question. Public confidence depends on making those differences intelligible.
32. The Tirupati laddu case showed how an allegation about food can also wound faith. In September 2024, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that animal fat had been used in ghee for the temple’s laddus. According to reporting on the January 2026 CBI-led investigation’s chargesheet, investigators alleged that suppliers had used vegetable oils and other substances to imitate dairy ghee. They reported finding no beef tallow or lard in the material examined. In the state Assembly in February, Naidu put the alleged supply at 59.71 lakh kg, valued at ₹234.51 crore, between 2019 and 2024. The figures are the chief minister’s account of the alleged supplies. The chargesheet sets out the investigators’ case.
Maharashtra: The Mundhe Crackdown and What It Reveals
33. Maharashtra’s enforcement campaign began in May 2026 under Tukaram Mundhe. Food and drug officials announced action across divisions including Mumbai, Konkan, Pune, Nashik, Amravati, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. An early account of the operation included 53 premises inspected and 34 violations found in a drive against prohibited products such as gutkha and pan masala. The same operation also included separate checks for food adulteration and hygiene. Keeping the categories distinct matters because each tally tells us what inspectors looked for in a particular set of premises.
34. The Maharashtra FDA’s July tally shows the scale of one enforcement campaign. From 25 May to 31 July 2026, the agency said it inspected 3,137 food establishments, suspended 165 licences and seized or destroyed 28.66 lakh kg of products it valued at ₹55.72 crore. In an August briefing, Mundhe also said the agency had received 103 appeals and granted interim relief in eligible cases. The numbers describe a date-bounded enforcement campaign. They show both what inspectors can uncover when they look intensively and the amount of follow-up work that a campaign of this scale creates.
35. The drive reached branded food businesses as well as smaller establishments. In August 2026, the FDA suspended licences at specific Domino’s and Pizza Hut outlets in Mumbai. Separate August action covered premises operated by Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, with inspectors reporting issues such as expired stock and pest infestations at particular sites. These were findings and actions at individual premises. A familiar logo gives customers a point of recognition. Compliance still has to be checked where food is made, stored and handled.
36. Inspections also reached institutions associated with urban privilege. In late July 2026, the Maharashtra FDA took action at prominent Mumbai clubs. It also suspended 21 licences in the Pune division, including at Blinkit’s Viman Nagar facility and at other establishments such as bakeries, hotels and restaurants. Subsequent reporting recorded licence restorations in the wider Pune drive. A credible regime applies the same standard to a club kitchen, a warehouse and a small food business. It also gives the businesses involved a fair route to challenge an order or show that a problem has been addressed.
37. The Bombay High Court brought public canteens into the enforcement story. The court questioned the FDA’s approach to private establishments and called for checks on government and semi-government canteens. Inspections involving Mantralaya and the High Court’s own canteens followed. In separate cases, the court stayed or reversed some licence suspensions. The coverage raised two related questions. Can public kitchens expect the same scrutiny as private ones, and do the agency’s procedures give operators a fair hearing? Both matter wherever institutions prepare meals.
38. A seizure figure is a record of what inspectors found within a particular drive. The Maharashtra FDA’s ₹55.72 crore figure combined products seized and destroyed between 25 May and 31 July 2026. It was a measure of enforcement activity in one state over about two months. To understand what had previously escaped scrutiny would require comparable earlier inspection records. Other cities would need their own evidence. What the figure does bring into focus is the importance of continuing inspection after the campaign itself has fallen out of the headlines.
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