Hyderabad raids uncover thousands of kilos of chemically tainted spices

Following public leads, Hyderabad police’s food-safety unit raided 13 establishments involved in spice procurement, processing and trade, uncovering extensive breaches of the Food Safety and Standards Act. Inspectors recovered more than 25 tonnes of spices adulterated with industrial dyes such as Bush Synthetic Orange Red, permanent colours, talc powder and rice-bran oil, some mixed into low-grade mustard to boost appearance and weight.

Additional spice batches, including cloves, shahjeera and ajwain, were coated with bright synthetic pigments. Three people were arrested and three criminal cases filed, with prosecutors also invoking culpable homicide provisions. The operation, part of H-FAST’s ongoing campaign since March, has so far logged 659 raids, 202 FIRs and seized nearly 246 tonnes of adulterated food, alongside rotten meat and chemically ripened fruit.