(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

An Indian court has ordered Patanjali Ayurved, a company that makes food and cosmetic products marketed as natural and traditional, to pay Rs100,000 for selling substandard ghee. In addition, two retailers were ordered to pay Rs40,000 in the same case.

The company posted a response on X on November 28, 2025, saying that the order was "erroneous" and that it plans to appeal it.

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Substandard ghee

According to Indian media outlets, the case dates back to 2020, when a food security officer purchased the ghee and had it tested. The first test found that the ghee failed safety standards. Once Patanjali was informed of the test results, it had the ghee tested again at a central laboratory, which corroborated with the initial results.

A case was filed against the company officially in 2022, under the Food Safety and Standards Act. In November 2025, the court ordered a penalty of over Rs100,000 to be paid by Patanjali and two retailers.

Appeal process

Patanjali said that the court order was "legally invalid", stating that the laboratory used was "not accredited by NABL for testing cow ghee". It has accused the lab of being sub-standard, pointing out the apparent double standard of the ghee being labelled as such by the lab.

It also said that the parameters for which the ghee were tested were "not applicable at the time," called their use illegal. The third reason provided by the company was that the sample was tested after its expiry date has passed.

"The court has passed an adverse order without considering any of these major arguments, which is not correct from a legal perspective," said Patanjali. "An appeal against this order is being filed in the Food Safety Tribunal, and we are fully confident that the case will be decided in our favor based on the strong grounds of our case before the Tribunal."

The company added that the ghee was not harmful for consumption and only a "nominal difference" was found in the RM value, which it claims indicated the level of volatile fatty acid - a parameter that does not affect the safety of the product, according to Patanjali.

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