FDA busts food expiry date tampering racket in Navi Mumbai

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in a joint operation with the Navi Mumbai Police Crime Branch, has dismantled a major food packaging racket that illegally altered manufacturing and expiry dates on products from several well-known brands. The crackdown, conducted between August 24 and 29, targeted a warehouse in the Turbhe area of Navi Mumbai, resulting in the seizure of food stock valued at over Rs 75 lakh.

The operation focused on Sadhana Enterprises, a unit in the TTC Industrial Area. Officials discovered that the establishment was being used to store, repackage, and tamper with the labels of food products linked to multiple exporter companies. The process involved chemically erasing original dates from packaging using thinners, reprinting new dates with an inkjet machine, and applying fresh stickers over original ingredient and nutritional information. This method allegedly allowed expired items to be resold as fresh.

Among the seized items were popular snacks and beverages, including various variants of Lay's potato chips, Kurkure, Bingo, and Fun Flips. Instant noodles from Maggi, ready-to-make soups from Knorr and Rasoi, Hellmann's mayonnaise, and soft...