Maharashtra FDA Busts Interstate Racket Selling Expired Food with Fake Expiry Dates
Authorities seize food products worth over ₹52 lakh in Bhiwandi, suspend warehouse licence, and launch action against those involved in relabelling expired items for resale.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has uncovered an interstate racket involved in illegally repackaging and selling expired food products by altering their expiry dates. During a series of raids in Bhiwandi, Thane district, officials seized illegal food stocks worth more than ₹52 lakh.
The investigation began after FDA officials discovered around 1.5 tonnes of expired and unbilled food items worth ₹1.67 lakh at a warehouse in Saravali. The warehouse's food safety licence was immediately suspended.
In a separate operation, Nizampura Police intercepted an interstate truck carrying 1,200 kilograms of expired flour along with branded food products worth ₹5.18 lakh without valid invoices.
Further raids at eight locations in Bhiwandi led to the seizure of expired and undocumented food products valued at ₹45.74 lakh.
According to the FDA, the racket involved unauthorised scrap agencies allegedly hired by major e-commerce and logistics companies. These agencies reportedly issued fake disposal certificates before diverting expired food products to unregistered warehouses instead of destroying them.
Investigators said operators used chemicals to erase original expiry dates, affixed counterfeit manufacturing labels, and resold the products in the market at discounted prices, posing a serious threat to public health.
FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe warned that logistics companies violating the new disposal norms—including mandatory geo-tagged video tracking and separate locked zones for expired products—would face permanent cancellation of their licences and criminal prosecution.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are working to identify all those involved in the illegal network.
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