Maharashtra FDA Seizes Adulterated Milk in Navi Mumbai

Joint teams from the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and local police carried out early-morning searches in residential and semi-commercial areas of Koparkhairane and Turbhe. Officials said the operation targeted a network suspected of tampering with branded milk supplies in Navi Mumbai.

The seized material included more than 1,000 litres of adulterated liquid milk, commercial sealing machines, imitation packaging film, chemical additives and containers used to store water in unhygienic conditions. The stock was assessed at several lakhs of rupees. Enforcement officers destroyed substantial quantities of the seized milk at the sites to stop it from reaching shops and other retail outlets.

Investigators said operators obtained authentic, sealed pouches from early-morning distribution routes. The brands identified in the account included Amul, Mother Dairy and Gokul. The suspects allegedly removed part of the original milk with razor blades or syringes, replaced it with unpurified tap water, starch, chemical thickeners or inferior milk powder, and closed the pouches with portable heating devices.

The resealing process was used to reproduce the appearance of factory tamper-evident packaging. The altered pouches were then supplied to local retailers and tea vendors, according to the investigation described by the FDA.

Officials collected statutory samples and sent them to state food-testing laboratories. The tests will examine the products’ chemical composition and check for harmful neutralising substances and microbial contamination under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

First Information Reports were filed against several principal suspects under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and food-safety laws. Several people were placed in police custody. The operation formed part of increased statewide monitoring by the Maharashtra FDA before major festive celebrations, a period when demand for milk, cream and traditional dairy sweets rises in urban areas.

The department advised consumers to check the condition of milk-packet seals and to report suspicious packaging or unauthorised distribution locations through its consumer grievance helpline.