New Delhi, Oct 18 (TNS): The Priyagold biscuits brand has been pulled into a major food-safety crackdown, with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) initiating legal proceedings for prosecution against Surya Food & Agro Ltd, the maker of Priyagold biscuits, after inspectors found bran meant for cattle feed being used as a raw material in biscuit manufacturing. The regulator’s action, announced on Saturday, also targeted Dodla Dairy Ltd and Ueir Organic Foods Pvt Ltd for serious food safety violations.
According to the FSSAI, the inspection of Surya Food & Agro was conducted after a consumer complaint, and it revealed “serious food safety and hygiene deficiencies” at the company’s plant. “Bran meant for cattle feed and not intended for human consumption was found being used as a raw material in Priyagold biscuit manufacturing as a source of fibre,” the regulator said in a social media post. The gunny bags containing the bran were marked to indicate that the material was intended for cattle feed.
The regulator said the FSSAI licence of Surya Food & Agro “had been suspended following the serious non-compliances observed during inspection,” and that the competent authority had granted sanction for initiating prosecution against the company under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
What inspectors found at the Priyagold biscuits plant
Beyond the cattle-feed bran, the inspection flagged a string of other deficiencies at the facility, including lapses in plant hygiene, pest control, raw material storage and segregation, personnel hygiene, premises maintenance and the handling of intermediate formulations. The combination of violations — an unsafe raw material plus systemic hygiene failures — is what pushed the regulator from enforcement to prosecution.
The case has rattled the packaged-foods industry because it strikes at a basic assumption of consumer trust: that the ingredients inside a sealed packet of Priyagold biscuits are fit for human consumption. The FSSAI’s decision to publicise the prosecution on social media, complete with details of the marked gunny bags found at the Priyagold biscuits plant, signals a zero-tolerance posture that other manufacturers will be watching closely.
Priyagold biscuits action is part of a wider FSSAI sweep
The Priyagold biscuits case was not the only action announced. The FSSAI said it has also initiated legal proceedings for prosecution against Dodla Dairy Ltd and Ueir Organic Foods Pvt Ltd for “serious food safety violations.” In Dodla’s case, a regulatory sample of full cream milk was declared substandard by a food analyst for failing to meet prescribed milk fat specifications; on appeal, the Referral Food Laboratory confirmed the sample was unsafe because of the presence of detergent or caustic soda, and substandard because of milk fat below the minimum prescribed limit.
Ueir Organic Foods faces proceedings over pesticide residues found in yellow raisins, according to the regulator. The FSSAI also issued notices to three other businesses — Narpadham Foods, Sun Ridges Health Carers and Sha Kantilal Jayantilal — for separate food safety concerns, as Business Standard reported.
“The authority maintains zero tolerance for any food safety violations or compromises on public health as per FSS Act 2006, ensuring that strict legal consequences follow for non-compliant food business operators,” the regulator said, underscoring that the current enforcement drive is aimed at compromised manufacturing standards across national supply chains.
What the Priyagold biscuits crackdown means for consumers
For consumers, the crackdown is both reassuring and unsettling: reassuring because the regulator acted on a complaint and moved all the way to prosecution, unsettling because the violations — cattle-feed bran in biscuits, detergent traces in milk — were happening inside established supply chains. Food-safety experts say the episode underscores why end-product testing alone is not enough, and why robust oversight of sourcing, storage and plant hygiene matters.
The prosecution proceedings will now move through the legal process under the FSS Act, 2006, which provides for penalties including imprisonment for unsafe food. For Surya Food & Agro, the immediate commercial cost is the suspended licence and the reputational blow to the Priyagold biscuits brand. For the wider industry, the message from the regulator is unambiguous: compromised ingredients and weak hygiene will invite the harshest available action.