Hyderabad: The Telangana Food Safety Department conducted a two-phase special drive on ghee across the state, carrying out an intensive operation in the Hyderabad CURE region alongside Hyderabad Police on Tuesday, July 14, and Wednesday, July 15.

During inspections across districts and Hyderabad, food safety officers found instances where some licensed and unregulated establishments were allegedly selling ghee adulterated with vegetable fats such as palm oil, vanaspati and coconut oil. As per FSS Regulations, ghee must contain at least 99.5 per cent milk fat and not more than 0.5 per cent moisture.

In the districts, officials inspected 65 establishments and collected 91 ghee and cream samples for analysis, apart from issuing notices to five establishments. In the Hyderabad Core Urban Region (CURE) region, 14 establishments were inspected and 15 ghee and cream samples were collected for analysis.

Officials seized around 850 kg of suspected adulterated ghee or cream, while 60 kg of suspected contaminated ghee or cream was discarded on the spot. Further action will be taken based on laboratory analysis reports, as per provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, officials said.

Officials reiterated that pure ghee should be prepared only from milk fat, and that mixing vegetable fats such as vanaspati or palm oil and selling it as ghee amounts to a violation of food safety standards.