India’s food safety laws fail to curb adulteration crisis, trust erodes

In her kitchen in the Indian capital, Delhi, 55-year-old Nirmal Rao sets out a tray of boiled turmeric to dry in the afternoon sun.

On the counter beside it, she slowly pours yesterday’s dried batch into a mixer, grinding it into a fine golden powder.

Until recently, Rao had never imagined she would spend her evenings grinding spices at home.

“We shouldn’t have to do this,” she said, scooping the bright yellow powder into a jar. “But you cannot trust what’s being sold in the markets anymore.”

Rao is not alone. Across Indian cities, some middle-class families are quietly turning their kitchens into miniature food-processing units — grinding spices by hand, making paneer (Indian cottage cheese) at home, buying grain directly from farms.

The shift is driven less by nostalgia than by distrust.

Government data shows that between 2022 and 2025, roughly one in six food samples tested by authorities failed to meet food safety standards.

During the same period, more than 1,100 licenses of food businesses were canceled.

Experts say these failed cases can be due to anything from poor hygiene and labeling violations to cases involving contamination or adulteration.

Last month, food safety officials in Hyderabad seized more than 3,000 kg of adulterated tea powder in which synthetic colors, jaggery juice and expired tea were mixed to boost appearance and profits, The Indian Express reported.

Food adulteration is not new in India. But a regulatory system that struggles to keep pace with a vast informal food economy, and social media that spreads food safety scares faster than authorities can respond, have combined to produce a growing crisis of trust.

A few decades ago, food adulteration meant diluted milk or pebbles in grain. Today, raids turn up milk spiked with detergent and spices laced with synthetic dyes.

India does have rules to prevent this. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), created under a 2006 law, regulates how food is made, stored, transported and sold, replacing a patchwork of older laws.

Under the rules, everything from large food companies to small eateries must be licensed, while food safety officers are tasked with inspections, sample collection and investigating complaints.

“It is among the most modern food safety laws in the world,” says Pawan Agarwal, former FSSAI chief. “It sets clear standards for how food should and should not be sold.”

But in practice, much of it kicks in only after something goes wrong.

“Bigger companies are expected to test products before they go to market — but most of the food economy does not work that way,” Agarwal said.

“Food products are often tested only after complaints emerge or suspicions are raised.”

By then, adulterated goods may already have moved across cities or states.

He also points to the challenge posed by loose food products — such as oil, flour and spices sold without proper branding or packaging, often in small quantities.

Across India, countless small vendors, unregistered shops and informal factories sell, repackage and distribute such goods with little paperwork, making it nearly impossible to trace where unsafe products originated or ended up, experts say.

Meanwhile, the food testing system has a structural flaw too, says Saurabh Arora, managing director of food testing lab Auriga Research.

“Businesses are required to send samples only once every six or 12 months. But even that limited testing window is routinely gamed,” he adds.

“They often make sure the tested batch meets standards — even if others may not.”

Experts say weak enforcement capacity is another major hurdle.

In Maharashtra, one of India’s largest states, fewer than 500 food safety officers oversee thousands of registered food businesses alongside countless informal operators, says food safety expert Sanjay Indani, who has worked with the regulator.

“It is nearly impossible to oversee everything. How can such few numbers [of officers] hold people accountable?”

Experts say countries such as Italy and the UK can quickly trace and recall products through tightly documented supply chains. In India, by contrast, tracking a contaminated batch can take weeks — if it happens at all.

The scale of the problem has reached top offices. Last month, India’s National Human Rights Commission held a meeting on food safety, with officials warning that contaminated products could spread widely before authorities could identify them, let alone remove them from shelves.

But on the ground, many consumers have arrived at a simpler solution — pay more, worry less.

Tiash De, 29, who lives in Mumbai, says the fear of substandard products has pushed her towards buying pricier alternatives.

“I tend to go for bigger brands, even though they are costly and strain my budget, but in my head I am sure they are not adulterated,” she says.

She also pays nearly 50% above market rates for a farm-to-home milk delivery service — a premium she says is worth the peace of mind.

She is far from alone. Across urban India, more consumers are willing to pay extra for trusted food, with the country’s organic food market projected to reach $10.81 billion by 2033, according to Dr. Meenakshi Singh, chief scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Doctors say the bigger danger is often the food that does not make people immediately sick. Unlike food poisoning, which causes sudden illness, repeated exposure to contaminated or substandard ingredients can take years to show effects.

“In the short term, people may experience digestive issues, headaches or fatigue,” says Rinkesh Kumar Bansal, chief of gastroenterology at a Fortis hospital near Delhi.

“Over time, it can contribute to liver and kidney damage, hormonal problems and a higher risk of chronic disease.”

But experts say the current panic is being driven less by illness and more by information spread online.

“Food adulteration has not suddenly increased, but information about it now spreads rapidly because of social media,” says Agarwal.

“We are sensitive about the food we eat and it is very personal to us, so any such news immediately has our attention.”

The real pressure will ultimately come from consumers themselves, he says.

“As awareness grows and people start demanding safer food, businesses will have no choice but to deliver.”

He also pointed to one sign of change — FSSAI routinely publishes guidance on how to detect adulterated food at home, a practice he says is rare elsewhere in the world.

“There has to be a sense of ownership from the manufacturer all the way to the consumer,” Saurabh Arora adds.

“In India, the mindset often becomes — as long as I am not consuming it myself, it is someone else’s problem. Regulation alone cannot solve that.”

Back in Rao’s Delhi kitchen, jars of homemade spices now line the shelf once reserved for store-bought packets.

She admits the process is time-consuming and not really practical, especially for families where both parents have full-time jobs.

“If even basic food cannot be trusted, what are ordinary people supposed to do?”