Delhi’s Food Safety Department has found 19 of 59 desi ghee samples collected from markets across the city unsafe for human consumption, while inspections of food-storage facilities used by quick-commerce and retail companies reported expired products, pests and poor storage conditions ahead of the festival season.
The findings were disclosed by the Chief Minister’s Office, which said the department tested samples of various desi ghee brands sold in Delhi. Four additional samples were classified as substandard rather than unsafe. The government said orders had been issued to shut establishments selling unsafe ghee and that their licences had been suspended.
The brands whose samples were declared unsafe include Haryana Lite, Haryana Supreme, Haryana Dairy, Haryana Pure, Shree Haryana King, Shree Haryana Foods, Kartar, Prabhas, Madhu Sangam, Radha Krishna, New Punjab Super Brand, Akshara, Anand Gold, Shree Nandan, Shree Mohan and Shree Krishna. The department classified samples of Nova, Govardhan Pure Cow Ghee and Pratap Desi Ghee as substandard.
The inspections also covered storage facilities operated by online food-delivery and retail companies in different parts of Delhi. At Swiggy Instamart’s premises in Uttam Nagar, officials found expired frozen green peas, Greek yoghurt, eggless chocolate-chip brownies and cow ghee products. Some packets of sprouts, fruits and vegetables did not carry expiry dates, according to the CMO statement.
At Reliance Retail Limited’s facility in the Wazirpur Industrial Area, inspectors found flies, mosquitoes and a lizard, along with spider webs. An inspection at Zomato Hyperpure’s premises in Ghevra found expired products and unhygienic conditions, while officials at Zepto Limited’s facility in Jheel Khureja identified shortcomings in maintaining the prescribed cold-storage temperature. Cockroaches and spider webs were also reported there.
The findings place food storage and last-mile delivery facilities under scrutiny at a time when more households use online platforms to order perishable goods and packaged food. The inspection details indicate that food safety enforcement in the city extends beyond retail shelves to warehouses and fulfilment facilities that store products before delivery.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said compromising on food quality or endangering people’s health through adulteration was unacceptable. “The health and safety of Delhiites will not be compromised,” she said, adding that the Food Safety Department had been directed to tighten monitoring of markets, food-storage facilities and establishments supplying food products through online platforms.
The Chief Minister’s Office said action would be taken in accordance with the rules wherever food safety standards were violated. It added that the government’s objective was not only to identify deficiencies but to ensure that every family in Delhi had access to safe and quality food, while accountability in the food trade remained a priority.
