Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Police’s H-FAST team has busted a large-scale spice adulteration racket, seizing 25 tonne of adulterated spices and another 89 tonne of raw material allegedly kept for further adulteration and processing, following raids at Balapur and Mailardevpally.
Three cases have been registered and the accused arrested. Police said the accused procured spices, processed them using a range of prohibited and industrial substances and sold the finished products in wholesale and retail markets.
Poisonous dyes found
The most alarming find during the raids was the use of industrial-grade dyes, substances clearly labelled “poisonous” and “non-edible” and ordinarily used to colour cloth, mixed directly into spices. Along with these, investigators found talcum powder, rice bran mixture and other industrial chemicals being used to bulk up and disguise adulterated stock.
The H-FAST team also detected the use of synthetic orange, red and green food colours in the spices. While certain food colours are permitted in limited quantities for specific food items, officials said they are not permitted in spices at all and laboratory examination confirmed that the quantities found exceeded permissible limits in any case.
Rejected and poor-quality mustard seeds were found to have been mixed with talcum powder, oils and colouring agents to improve their appearance before being sold. Similar adulteration was detected in cloves, black cumin (shah jeera), ajwain and several other spices, where industrial dyes had been used to enhance colour and make the products appear fresh.
Significant health risks
Cases have been registered under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, covering violations related to improper labelling, misbranding and deceptive manufacturing practices. Police have also invoked stringent provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 310 and Section 110, treating the offences as grave acts endangering public health.
Officials said the consumption of such adulterated products can cause liver and kidney damage, cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, stomach ulcers, allergic reactions, skin diseases, nervous system disorders and a weakened immune system. The seized industrial dyes, they noted, were explicitly marked as poisonous and unfit for human consumption, making their use in food products particularly dangerous.
Hyderabad Police said the H-FAST team would continue taking stringent action against those involved in food adulteration. In the last 140 days, the team has seized 246 tonne of contaminated food products across Hyderabad as part of its ongoing enforcement drive.
