In February 2026, six people died and seven more became critically ill after consuming contaminated milk in India. The milk is reported to have come from a processing facility, a “private milk chilling unit”, that was operating without the required permissions. The person who operated the unit was arrested.
The milk was contaminated with toxic ethylene glycol coolant after a leak, according to CNBCTV (India). Propylene glycol, not ethylene glycol, is food-safe and typically used for dairy operations, whereas ethylene glycol is used for non-food industrial applications and in automotive antifreeze.
Propylene glycol is food-safe and typically used for dairy operations, whereas ethylene glycol is used for non-food industrial applications and in automotive antifreeze.
Victims reported tasting an unusual flavour in the milk before they began to experience symptoms of acute poisoning. One media outlet reported the deaths were caused by acute renal failure.
If the allegations published by CNBCTV prove correct (investigations were ongoing at the time of this report), this is a case where a person who perpetrated food fraud – by falsely implying their milk was from a properly licensed operation – has caused multiple deaths.
Important things to know
In India, the word ‘adulteration’ is used to refer to both accidental contamination events and deliberate addition of undeclared materials to food.
The presence of ethylene glycol in the milk appears to be the result of accidental contamination, not intentional adulteration. The unlicensed milk operator would not have wanted to sicken their customers, knowing this would bring unwanted scrutiny.
The food fraud element of this tragic situation is therefore not related to the ‘adulteration’ (contamination) of the milk, but to the deception perpetrated by the milk processor, who was operating “without the required permissions”. A properly licensed operator would not have used the highly toxic industrial coolant ethylene glycol in their refrigeration system.
Suspicious similarities…
In 2023, I wrote about the tragic contamination case(s) that caused 300 deaths of children from contaminated cough syrup in multiple countries, including Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. The deaths were attributed to the presence of ethylene glycol in the syrup, instead of the inert and safe propylene glycol, which is used as a humectant in medicated syrups.
Indonesian police investigating the cough syrup manufacturer told reporters that a chemical company had misrepresented industrial-grade ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol as pharmaceutical-grade propylene glycol.
The company name and branding of a well-known pharmaceutical supplier were used on the products, presumably without its authorisation. The perpetrators then allegedly supplied the counterfeit and highly toxic ‘Dow Chemical Thailand Pharmaceutical-grade Propylene Glycol’ to local medicine manufacturers via a distributor.
Four men from the medicine manufacturer in Indonesia were jailed, despite their legal representatives blaming the supplier of a contaminated ingredient in the medicine for the deaths, while 21 people who worked in the import, distribution and licensing of imported medicines faced court in Uzbekistan on charges including the sale of substandard medicines, tax evasion, negligence, forgery and bribery.
The Indonesian makers of the fake ‘Propylene Glycol’ and their distributors also faced criminal prosecution. The manufacturer was found at fault for the poisonings in 2024, in a civil case brought by affected families in Indonesia, and ordered to pay compensation to the families of the injured children.
Key learnings
It’s rare for food fraud events to be directly implicated in serious illnesses or deaths. However, people who are willing to cut corners and break food safety laws to make illegal profits – for example, by operating without a licence – put the safety of consumers at risk.
When illnesses and injuries do occur as a result of food fraud, it can lead to the perpetrator getting caught, and this disincentivises obviously unsafe practices by food fraud perpetrators.
In another 2020s case in India, the illnesses and subsequent traceback resulted in the arrest of the unlicensed operator.
If allegations about the nature of the poisonings in India prove correct, that is, if the milk was contaminated with toxic ethylene glycol coolant – coolant that should never be used in a food context – after a leak in an unlicensed chilling system, this will be a rare case of illegal food processing causing consumer deaths.
Main source:
CNBCTV18 India (2026). Andhra milk adulteration case: Six dead, seven people in critical condition; FSSAI seeks report. [online] Available at: https://www.cnbctv18.com/india/andhra-milk-adulteration-case-six-dead-seven-people-in-critical-condition-fssai-seeks-report-ws-l-19857629.htm