Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed officials to consider stringent action, including the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), against those involved in large-scale food adulteration, particularly the adulteration of milk, cheese and other dairy products.
The direction was issued in Mumbai on Tuesday, August 11, amid an intensified statewide crackdown by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. Shinde said adulterators were putting citizens, particularly children who consume milk regularly, at risk and called for non-bailable cases wherever the law permits.
He also directed officials to immediately form a special legal team involving senior legal experts to ensure that cases do not fail because of procedural or legal gaps. The move follows earlier government warnings that organised food adulteration could attract MCOCA.
In March, FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal told the Maharashtra Legislative Council that the government would invoke MCOCA against those involved in large-scale adulteration; he said 14 people had been booked following raids in Vasai and Andheri over milk adulteration, while proceedings had begun against four accused.
Importantly, however, MCOCA cannot simply be applied to every food-safety violation. The law requires authorities to establish statutory conditions linked to continuing unlawful activity and an organised crime syndicate. The latest directive therefore represents a tougher enforcement intent, but its eventual legal application will depend on evidence and whether individual cases satisfy the requirements of the Act.
Children At The Centre
Eknath Shinde’s concern centres on something present in millions of Indian households: milk and dairy products. Speaking about the need for tougher action, he warned that children consume substantial quantities of milk and that adulterated food and fake or improperly manufactured cheese can expose consumers to serious health risks.
He said those responsible were effectively “playing with the lives” of children and argued that the state should show no leniency towards people who deliberately compromise public health. Shinde also asked officials to ensure that cases are legally robust, including by seeking assistance from experienced lawyers and creating a dedicated legal team.
His intervention comes as Maharashtra’s FDA has stepped up inspections across the food supply chain. In one of its major drives between May 25 and May 27, the FDA arrested 33 people, sealed 27 establishments and seized goods worth nearly ₹50 lakh across several divisions, with officials also collecting samples of milk, paneer, khoya, ghee, edible oils, sweets and other food products for testing.
FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said repeat offenders would face stringent action and criminal prosecution, while urging citizens to report suspected adulteration. The crackdown has continued beyond that initial operation. In June, Pune FDA teams raided 17 establishments and seized 17,031 kg of dairy products including suspected adulterated paneer, khoya, cheese analogue and ghee valued at ₹47.36 lakh.
Thirty-five samples were collected for laboratory analysis, with legal proceedings initiated under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. In July, the FDA also introduced stricter requirements covering milk collection centres, dairies, transporters, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, requiring greater traceability and compliance across the supply chain after inspections uncovered repeated instances of adulteration and synthetic milk production.
For consumers, the significance is straightforward: the authorities are increasingly treating adulteration not merely as a problem at an individual shop or restaurant, but as a potential network extending from production and collection to transportation, storage and sale.
From Raids To MCOCA
Maharashtra’s latest move has been building for months. In March 2026, FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal told the Legislative Council that the state intended to use MCOCA against large-scale food adulterators, following raids in Vasai and Andheri in which cases were registered against 14 people for milk adulteration.
He also said special monitoring was being carried out on milk entering Mumbai and other major cities, while the government was working to address manpower shortages within the FDA. The current crackdown under Mundhe has given that political commitment a much stronger enforcement backdrop.
The FDA has reported action against suspected synthetic milk operations and has tightened requirements across the dairy chain. In April, a special inspection drive at six entry points into Mumbai resulted in the seizure of more than 11,000 litres of milk, with 195 samples collected during checks of vehicles bringing milk into the city. The department has also focused on analogue dairy products.
FDA Commissioner Mundhe said around 40% of analogue paneer samples examined in the department’s cases were found unsafe or contained extraneous matter, while stressing that such products must comply with prescribed standards.
Maharashtra has separately required restaurants, hotels, caterers and other food establishments to disclose the use of analogue paneer and cheese, reflecting growing concern over whether consumers know what they are actually being served. Yet the proposed use of MCOCA needs careful scrutiny.
The law was enacted to deal with organised criminal activity and defines “continuing unlawful activity” through specific conditions, including cognisable offences punishable with at least three years’ imprisonment and more than one chargesheet filed within the preceding 10 years with the court having taken cognisance, along with the involvement of an organised crime syndicate.
This means an isolated instance of poor-quality or adulterated food cannot simply be labelled organised crime. The government would need to establish that the alleged activity falls within MCOCA’s legal framework.
The ordinary food-safety framework remains important too: the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 contains separate provisions covering adulterants, substandard food, extraneous matter, unhygienic processing and unsafe food, including specific punishment provisions for unsafe food.
The challenge for investigators will therefore be to combine rigorous sampling, laboratory evidence, supply-chain tracing and legally sound investigations with the stronger criminal provisions the government now wants to deploy.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Food adulteration is ultimately not just a regulatory issue; it is a question of trust. Families should be able to buy milk, paneer, cheese or any everyday food item without wondering whether the product they are paying for could harm their health. Children, older people and those already vulnerable to illness should not bear the consequences of someone else’s pursuit of profit. In that sense, Maharashtra’s decision to intensify enforcement is a welcome step, particularly if it targets deliberate and organised networks that knowingly put consumers at risk.
At the same time, a tougher law is meaningful only when it is applied fairly, transparently and on the basis of strong evidence. MCOCA should not become a substitute for proper investigation, laboratory testing or due process, nor should legitimate food businesses be treated as criminals because of an isolated regulatory lapse. Mundhe has previously stressed that honest businesses have nothing to fear from the FDA’s enforcement campaign, while the department has sought greater traceability and accountability across the food chain.
