How expired food products of brands imported from UK, US & Dubai were sold to high-end Indian stores

The operation was carried out by the Cyber Cell of the Crime Branch following tip-offs about a network that was bringing in expired food items or items nearing expiry date from abroad at throwaway prices and fraudulently selling them as fresh, imported products across India. Raids were conducted in the Pahari Dheeraj and Faiz Ganj areas of Sadar Bazar, a hub of wholesale markets in Delhi.

During the raid, officials from the Food Safety department of the Delhi government were called to the spot, samples were collected as per protocol, and the consignments were seized, said police.

According to the police, the mastermind was identified as Atal Jaiswal (54).

“Investigation revealed that the mastermind was importing international food products, which were expired or about to get expired, at extremely low prices through Mumbai-based wholesale agents, who sourced consignments from the United Kingdom, United States, Dubai, and other countries. By the time these consignments reached India, most of the products had already expired or become unfit for human consumption. Instead of destroying them as mandated by law, the accused illegally ‘re-manufactured’ the products,” said DCP Crime Branch Aditya Gautam.

Police said manufacturing and expiry dates were altered, labels and product information were changed, fake barcodes, batch numbers and MRPs were affixed, and the items were repackaged to make them appear like they had been freshly imported.

“These tampered products were then supplied in bulk to Modern Bazaar, Food Story, Nature Basket, major retail chains, prominent malls, and various e-commerce platforms across India, generating huge illegal profits while endangering public health. The recovery of complete printing, sealing, and date-altering machinery confirms the existence of a full-fledged illegal adulteration and repackaging factory,” said DCP Gautam.

Among those arrested are Shiv Kumar (40) from Jharkhand; Bishwajit Dhara (25) from Malviya Nagar in Delhi; Vinod (43) and Arun Kumar (30) from Darbhanga in Bihar; Vijay Kant (50) from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh; and Shamim (30) from Etah in Uttar Pradesh.

A large quantity of specialised equipment used for forgery and repackaging — such as hand-held inkjet printers, cartridges, sealing machines, chemicals, glue guns and fake barcode stickers — was also recovered.

A case has been registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Crime Branch police station. Police said further investigation is underway to trace the supply chain, identify retail and online buyers, and dismantle the entire network involved in the illegal trade of expired and adulterated food products.