Haryana orders 150 extra sweet, dairy samples per district before Diwali

Haryana has ordered a stepped-up food safety drive ahead of Diwali and Chhath Puja, with every district told to collect 100 to 150 extra surveillance samples of sweets, milk, paneer, khoya and ghee. State Health Minister Arti Singh Rao gave the direction, and the state's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set out the plan in an official statement issued on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The drive comes after laboratory tests found that 381 food samples collected in the state between April and September did not meet the prescribed standards.

Sweets made from milk, khoya and ghee sit at the centre of how India celebrates Diwali and Chhath. Families buy them in bulk for their own homes, for gifts and for offerings. That surge in demand, packed into a few weeks, is exactly when food regulators say the risk of adulteration rises: dairy supply does not grow as fast as demand, and some sellers stretch it with cheaper fats, starch or synthetic substitutes.

The numbers from Haryana's own laboratories explain why the state is acting now. Of the 2,428 samples tested in the six months to September, 381 failed, which works out to roughly one in six. The figures do not by themselves say how many of those were unsafe to eat and how many were only substandard (for example, a lower fat content than the label promised, or a labelling fault). In food law, those are different findings with different penalties. What the figures do show is that failures are not rare, and that the festive rush is likely to test the system further.

The difference between the two kinds of samples also matters. An enforcement sample is collected when an inspector suspects a problem, and it can lead to prosecution. A surveillance sample is collected to see what is on the market in general. The new order asks districts to collect many more surveillance samples, which is meant to give the department a wider picture of what shoppers are actually buying, not only to catch known offenders.

For readers who follow heritage food traditions, the drive is a reminder that the value of a traditional sweet depends on what goes into it. Pure ghee and fresh khoya are the reason these foods hold a special place at festivals; an imitation product sold under the same name takes away both the taste and the trust.

Short-term: Sweet shops, dairies and milk vendors across Haryana's districts can expect more inspections and sample collection in the weeks before Diwali and Chhath Puja. Traders whose samples fail could face notices, fines or prosecution under the Food Safety and Standards Act, depending on what the laboratory finds.

Long-term: The weekly upload of results to the state portal could give the department a clearer, regular record of where and in which products failures cluster. If it is used well, that data could help the state target repeat offenders and high-risk products in future seasons rather than relying on one-off festive drives.

Who is affected: Consumers in Haryana buying sweets and dairy products for the festivals; sweet makers, dairy units and milk vendors; district food safety officers, who must meet the extra sampling target; and honest traders, who stand to gain if adulterated products are pushed out of the market.

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