By Francis Mascarenhas and Aditya Kalra
MUMBAI, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Indian authorities have raided an illegal operation in Mumbai that faked expiry dates and nutritional information on original food products manufactured by PepsiCo, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Unilever so they could be exported to other countries.
Reuters got exclusive access to the warehouse last week as food officers conducted a six-day investigation and seized goods worth nearly $80,000. A photographer saw chemicals used to remove manufacturers’ original expiry dates and ingredient labels, machines to print and apply replacements and scores of label packs for products including Lay’s potato chips and Maggi noodles.
India’s Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is the capital, has intensified a food safety drive under the new head of the state’s Food and Drug Administration, Tukaram Mundhe, whose surprise inspections at elite clubs and restaurants have made him an online and TV celebrity.
“I am absolutely shocked by the scale. It is like organised activity. It’s been done systematically,” Mundhe told Reuters on Tuesday about the investigation into the illicit warehouse operation.
The warehouse, located in the industrial area of Navi Mumbai around 25 km (16 miles) from Mumbai’s international airport, was run by privately owned Sadhana Enterprises. Its owner said they carried out the activities on behalf of 19 little-known exporters, according to a media release from the state and a police case document.
Officials said most products were expired or near expired. By changing dates, “harmful food products are being exported for sale, thereby defrauding customers,” the case document said.
It was not clear which countries the products were destined for but all the stock was for export, Mundhe said. At least one reprinted label on a PepsiCo packet was in English and French, Reuters found.
PepsiCo, Nestle, Unilever India unit Hindustan Unilever, and Coca-Cola did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Reuters calls to warehouse co-owners Jayprakash Sanchatiram Singh and Jaya Navrang Bahadur Singh were not answered. It was not clear whether any arrests had been made.
CHEMICALS AND PRINTING MACHINES
The gated warehouse had four large rooms beneath a tin roof.
Officials found nearly 5,000 cartons of consumer products, including PepsiCo’s Lay’s and Kurkure chips, Nestle’s Maggi Masala Noodles, Unilever’s Knorr Mushroom Soup and Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, and Coca-Cola’s Thums Up and Limca cans. Many of the Kurkure and Maggi packets, as well as the Thums Up cans, had their dates removed.
Inside the dirty warehouse, Reuters photographer Francis Mascarenhas saw a can of a chemical solvent that officials said was used to erase dates from the packets.
They said an operator would enter the fake expiry and manufacturing dates using a stylus on a computer screen. Workers would then use a machine fitted to a metal table, decorated with a tiny “I love my India” sticker, to allegedly print the new label on packaging and cans.
“The original date of manufacture and expiry date on the packaging of the food articles had been scratched out, erased … (and) new information printed over them,” the police document said.
The police case did not accuse any global companies of wrongdoing, but Mundhe called for supply chain accountability.
“Everybody needs to take this seriously. Companies have to abide with compliances and ensure that branding, packaging and sale is done as per regulations,” he said.
CARTONS OF MAGGI, FAKE INGREDIENT LABELS
Enforcement of food safety laws is weak in India. Food safety checks have long focused on adulteration, particularly of dairy products, when cases rise during festive seasons as demand for traditional Indian sweets surges.
Mundhe told Reuters his team found some packs were being reprinted with a future manufacturing date of October 2, 2026 inside the Mumbai warehouse.
Given foreign countries may have different labelling requirements and health guidelines, Reuters found dozens of Maggi cartons in the warehouse, with one sample showing a fake nutrition label pasted on top of a pack, making it export ready by describing it as a “Product of India”.
One PepsiCo Kurkure pack had a nutrition label in English and French in a bilingual format.
The fake label reduced the quantity of cereal products in its ingredients by 10%, and tweaked the number of calories and serving size in an apparent move to align the labels with foreign regulations.
(Reporting by Francis Mascarhanes, Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Dhwani Pandya; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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