Telangana Cracks Down On Food Adulteration, Task Force Set Up After 64 Arrested

At least 64 persons have been arrested while 15 tonnes of adulterated food items have been seized in one month across Hyderabad. Alarmed by a series of raids exposing unsafe and unhygienic food products across the city, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has announced a special anti-food adulteration enforcement wing to crack down on those endangering public health.

The decision comes after Hyderabad police and food safety officials uncovered several major adulteration rackets involving fake paneer, spurious ghee, ginger-garlic paste, tea powder, bakery items, ice cream, pickles, poultry and meat.

According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar, the newly formed H-FAST (Hyderabad Food Adulteration Safety Team) has registered 61 cases in the last month, arrested 64 people and seized nearly 15 tonnes of adulterated food products.

Among the biggest raids was a fake paneer racket busted in Secunderabad, where police seized 3,892 kg of adulterated paneer, khoa, cream and ghee worth more than Rs 11 lakh while six persons were arrested. Officials found the products stored in open plastic covers without labels, exposed to dust, flies and contamination before being supplied to hotels and caterers.

In another case, police raided an illegal dairy unit manufacturing fake ghee by mixing palm oil, vanaspati and low-grade substances with cow and buffalo cream. More than 3,000 kg of adulterated ghee and cream worth Rs 18 lakh was seized.

The H-FAST team also uncovered units producing ginger-garlic paste mixed with acetic acid, synthetic colours, gum powder and excess salt. In one raid alone, nearly 1,900 kg of unsafe paste was seized.

Police further found rotten vegetables being used in pickle units, stale oil and spoiled eggs in samosa-making units, and duplicate tea powder packed for sale in local markets.

Calling food adulteration "a grave attack on society", CM Revanth Reddy said the government will study laws in other states and introduce a foolproof system, similar to HYDRAA (specialised wing for protection of public property and disaster management) and EAGLE (Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement), to curb the adulteration menace and ensure safe hygienic and quality food products in the state.