Bengaluru fake ghee scam: How to check if your ghee is pure at home

Officials in Bengaluru seized over 8,000 litres of fake Nandini ghee during a major food adulteration raid. (Image: Pexels)

A big fake food scandal in Bengaluru has brought attention back to how safe our everyday kitchen items are. The city's officials, working with the Karnataka Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation (KMF) just found a large operation making fake Nandini ghee. This has worried people who count on the brand as a trusted household item.

When they searched the place, officials took over 8,000 litres of mixed ghee, plus machines, packaging stuff, and fake labels made to look like the real Nandini brand. They say the stuff they took is worth more than Rs 1.26 crore. The people looking into this say the fake ghee was made using cheap plant fats, like palm oil and coconut oil, to copy the feel and smell of real ghee. A probe is also underway to determine whether animal fat was used in the mixture.

Also Read: 7 things to look for in food labels while buying products

Why adulterated ghee can hurt your health

Indian families value ghee for its rich taste, strong flavour, and health perks. It helps with digestion and gives the body vitamins that dissolve in fat. But mixing ghee with cheap oils or hidden fats can lead to big problems. When ghee isn't pure, it can mess with your cholesterol, make you eat more trans fats, upset your stomach, and flood your body with unhealthy fats.

Long-term consumption of such products can contribute to metabolic concerns and inflammation, especially for people with heart conditions or diabetes. The incident highlights why food purity — especially in widely used items — must be a priority.

3 Easy Ways to Check if Your Ghee is Pure at Home

Experts on food suggest a few simple and trustworthy tests to help buyers spot fake ghee:

Palm Melt Test
Put a tiny bit of ghee on your hand. Pure ghee melts almost instantly due to body heat and leaves a rich, buttery aroma. Fake ghee might stay half-solid or feel gritty.

Heat Test
Heat a spoonful of ghee in a pan. Real ghee turns to liquid fast, gets a bit brown, and smells nutty. Fake ghee might stay light or smell weird or fake.

Sugar Bottle Test
Add a pinch of sugar to a bottle containing ghee, shake well, and let it rest. A reddish or pink layer at the bottom suggests the presence of added colouring or fats.

There are other tests, like using iodine to find starch, but you need special liquids for those.

Also Read: How expired or contaminated food impacts health and what parents should know

How to stay safe

• Buy ghee from trusted shops and checked sellers.
• Look at package info, FSSAI permit numbers, make dates, and seals.
• Be cautious with heavily discounted products or unfamiliar retailers.
• When possible, consider making ghee at home from good-quality butter — it guarantees purity.
• Keep ghee in clean, tight jars to keep it from going bad.