Diwali Sweets: How to Spot Adulterated Mawa, Ghee and Silver Varq at Home

Diwali pushes demand for milk products far above normal. Mawa, ghee, paneer and milk-based sweets are needed in bulk, over a few weeks, and supply can't grow that fast. That gap is where substitutes and shortcuts creep in. FSSAI has said as much. In its 2019 milk survey report, it noted that spurious milk incidents tend to be seasonal, occurring at festival times when there is a large demand-supply gap. Each year it now asks states to run special festive drives: in September 2025, it directed food safety commissioners to focus on "hot spots" and deploy mobile testing vans, singling out ghee, khoa, paneer and other milk-based items (Storyboard18).

During a four-day statewide drive from 17 to 20 September 2026, Maharashtra's FDA inspected 64 food establishments, including hotels, restaurants and dhabas (Deccan Chronicle): - About 32,023 kg or litres of suspected substandard, unhygienic or misbranded food seized or destroyed, worth about ₹1.36 crore - Products seized included khoya, mawa, peda, ghee, barfi, edible oil, sweets and other dairy products - 12 food licences suspended and improvement notices issued to 36 more - In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, officials intercepted roughly 4,000 kg of khoya-based sweets arriving from Gujarat, reportedly made with palm oil, vanaspati and added sugars instead of pure dairy This came on top of the state's wider crackdown on milk adulteration this year, including a synthetic-milk racket busted in Pune and four other districts. We cover that in what FSSAI data and Maharashtra's raids show about milk adulteration.

The iodine test for starch. This one is from FSSAI's DART book (Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test): 1. Boil a small amount of mawa (about a teaspoon) in a little water. 2. Let it cool completely. 3. Add 2 to 3 drops of tincture of iodine, available at any chemist. If it turns blue or blue-black, starch has been added. If it stays brownish, no starch was detected. Clues worth noticing (not proof): - Real mawa smells of cooked milk. A sour, oily or chemical smell is a warning sign. - Rub a little between your fingers. Mawa that feels unusually greasy, rubbery or leaves an oily film deserves suspicion. - Mawa is highly perishable. Stock that has been sitting for days, especially unrefrigerated, is a risk even if it's genuine. What the iodine test can't catch: mawa made with vegetable fat or vanaspati instead of milk fat contains no starch and will pass. That's exactly what the FDA reported in the intercepted sweets.

Silver leaf (varq or chandi ka warq) on sweets is sometimes replaced with cheaper aluminium foil. FSSAI's DART book has a simple test: 1. Take a small piece of the leaf off the sweet. 2. Hold it with tongs or on a spoon and burn it with a match or lighter, away from anything flammable. Real silver burns away completely, leaving small glistening silver balls. Aluminium is reduced to a grey ash. If you're buying sweets in bulk, it's reasonable to test one piece before serving the rest.

Ghee is one of the most commonly faked festive staples, often blended with vanaspati or other oils. Some home checks can raise red flags, but reliable detection of blended fats needs a lab. We cover what works in how to check if ghee is pure. Paneer can contain starch (the same iodine test works) or be analogue paneer made with vegetable fat, which Maharashtra banned for one year in July 2026. See how to check if paneer is real.

Buy from licensed sellers. Every legitimate food business must hold an FSSAI licence or registration. Look for the number on packs, bills or display boards, and verify it on FSSAI's FoSCoS portal (foscos.fssai.gov.in). Be wary of prices that seem too good. Mawa and ghee take a lot of milk to make. Sweets priced well below the local norm are a reason to ask questions. Buy close to when you'll use it. Mawa, paneer and milk sweets are perishable. Order fresh rather than stocking up days ahead, and refrigerate promptly. Keep the bill. It makes a complaint possible if something turns out to be wrong. Report problems. In Maharashtra, the FDA's toll-free helpline is 1800222365. Consider making key items at home. Kheer, basundi, rabdi and homemade paneer need only milk, and you control what goes in. Full cream milk works best for richness and yield. See toned vs full cream milk.

If you're making sweets at home this Diwali, the milk you start with matters most: Single-origin: all our milk comes from our own farm. We never buy in milk from other farms or collection centres, and we never mix it. Our paneer and ghee are made from the same milk. (What single-origin means.) Standardised with our own milk only: our full cream milk is standardised using only milk and cream from our own farm, with no milk powder. Untouched and pasteurised: our milk moves through sealed, automated systems without human handling, and is pasteurised and homogenised. Licensed and verifiable: we're an FSSAI-licensed dairy manufacturer (Lic. No. 11526088000179). Look it up. We deliver between 5 and 8 AM across Pune and Mumbai. See our full cream milk, paneer and ghee, or browse all our dairy.