Imagine pouring a glass of milk for your child — believing it builds bones, strengthens immunity, and fuels growth — only to discover it may have contained caustic soda, detergent, urea, fertiliser compounds, and industrial-grade substitutes. The mind recoils. The stomach turns.

In Gujarat’s Sabarkantha and Mehsana districts, police allege that a local operation manufactured and sold “milk” using exactly such ingredients for years. Arrests have been made. The factory exposed. But the deeper question is far more unsettling: How does something like this continue for five years without detection?

🧪 1. What These Chemicals Could Do to the Human Body

If the allegations are accurate, the potential harm is staggering.

• Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide): Highly corrosive. Can damage the mouth, throat, and stomach lining. Repeated exposure risks internal burns and chronic digestive disorders.

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• Detergents: Designed to break down grease — not nourish children. They can cause vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal irritation, and long-term gut damage.

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• Urea & fertiliser compounds: Overconsumption may burden the kidneys and liver, especially dangerous for children whose organs are still developing.

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• Industrial fats and synthetic agents: Can elevate cardiovascular risk and introduce unknown toxicities when consumed chronically.

Short term? Gastrointestinal distress, dehydration, and chemical irritation.

Long term? Kidney stress, liver damage, weakened immunity, and developmental impact — especially alarming in growing children.

Even the possibility of sustained exposure is enough to trigger a public health alarm.

🏭 2. Five Years. No Whistleblower. No Major Crackdown.

That timeline is what stuns the most.

food adulteration is not new in India. But industrial-scale substitution running for half a decade raises systemic questions:

• Were routine inspections conducted?

• Were random sample tests taken?

• Did complaints go unheard?

• Were local enforcement mechanisms understaffed, underfunded, or compromised?
  
  
  

When such an operation survives for years, the issue transcends individual greed. It becomes about oversight.

🏛 3. Where Does Accountability Begin?

india has a statutory body — the Food Safety and Standards Authority of india — tasked with regulating food safety, licensing, and quality control.

Its mandate is clear: protect public health.

Yet scandals like this prompt public anger. Are inspections frequent enough? Are penalties strong enough? Are local enforcement arms adequately empowered?

It’s important to note that allegations of bribery or institutional corruption must be proven, but when enforcement failures appear repeatedly, public trust erodes rapidly.

⚖️ 4. The Legal Question: Is Adulteration Just a “Minor Offence”?

Indian law provides for penalties in food adulteration cases, including imprisonment and fines. However, critics argue that enforcement often lacks severity proportional to the risk posed.

When food fraud involves chemicals that could cause bodily harm, the debate intensifies:

Is this simple fraud?
Or is it reckless endangerment of public health?

Public anger often stems from the perception that economic crimes impacting everyday citizens rarely receive exemplary punishment.

🌍 5. The Food Safety culture Gap

You referenced your experience in London. In countries like the UK, agencies such as the Food Standards Agency operate under stringent inspection regimes, traceability mandates, and swift recall mechanisms.

But even developed nations data-face food scandals — from horse meat substitution to contamination outbreaks. The difference often lies in response speed, transparency, and legal consequences.

Food safety is not about geography. It’s about enforcement culture.

🧠 6. The Hard Truth About Adulteration

Food fraud thrives where:

• Supply chains are fragmented

• Small operators data-face minimal scrutiny

• Testing capacity is limited

• Consumers lack traceability tools
  
  
  

Milk adulteration, in particular, has historically been one of the most common forms of food fraud in india because milk is perishable, high-demand, and easily manipulated.

🔥 7. Outrage Is Understandable. But Reform Is Essential.

Anger at individuals arrested is natural. So is frustration at systemic gaps.

But sweeping generalisations about entire populations risk distracting from the real issue: regulatory reform, stronger testing infrastructure, transparent prosecution, and deterrent sentencing.

This isn’t about “Indians vs the West.”
It’s about standards vs shortcuts.
Oversight vs negligence.
Public health vs profit.

The Bigger Question

Every food scandal chips away at something deeper than trust in a brand. It chips away at trust in the system.

If milk — the most basic, universal staple — can be manipulated for years, citizens will understandably ask:

What else are we unknowingly?

And until inspections become routine, penalties become meaningful, and traceability becomes transparent, those questions will keep resurfacing — glass after glass.