In a fiery speech that gripped the Rajya Sabha, AAP MP Raghav Chadha sounded the alarm on India’s rampant food adulteration epidemic. Labeling it a ticking time bomb for public health, Chadha highlighted how everyday essentials are laced with deadly chemicals, putting children, seniors, and pregnant women at grave risk.
Chadha painted a grim picture of deception in the marketplace. ‘Buy milk thinking it’s nourishment for your child, but it’s loaded with urea and detergents,’ he thundered. Vegetables, hailed as health powerhouses, are injected with oxytocin to fake freshness, triggering headaches, heart failure, infertility, and even cancer. Paneer hides starch and caustic soda, ice creams contain detergent powder, fruit juices boast synthetic flavors and colors, cooking oils are mixed with machine oil, spices include brick dust and sawdust, tea is dyed with artificial colors, and poultry products carry anabolic steroids. Even traditional sweets meant for desi ghee are whipped up with vegetable oil and vanaspati.
Drawing from stark research, Chadha revealed that 71% of milk samples contained urea, and 64% had neutralizers like sodium bicarbonate. India’s milk production can’t match sales volumes, fueling this adulteration racket. Over 25% of vegetable samples from 2014-15 to 2025-26 tested positive for contaminants—meaning one in every four is tainted.
The MP slammed regulatory failures, pointing to two major Indian spice brands banned in the UK and Europe for carcinogenic pesticides, yet freely sold domestically. ‘Products unfit for pets abroad are fed to our people without a second thought,’ he lamented.
Chadha urged strengthening the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) with more staff and labs, hiking financial penalties for violators, launching a public recall system to name and shame adulterers, and banning misleading health claims in ads. His call to action demands immediate reforms to safeguard India’s food chain from this silent killer.