For Indian families, ghee is not merely an ingredient in the kitchen or on the dining table; it is deeply embedded in culture, lore, rituals, Ayurveda, and daily life. This cultural significance makes ghee adulteration one of the most stubborn food fraud issues in the country. In contemporary times, fake ghee remains a persistent problem. As the price of pure dairy ghee continues to rise, manufacturers and sellers often resort to cheaper substitutes such as vegetable oils, vanaspati, palm oil, and other fats to increase profits.
Recently, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), commonly known as IIT-BHU, uncovered a troubling finding: carrot extract can help fake ghee pass certain quality tests, making adulteration harder to detect. This discovery raises an important question: if carrot extract fools the tests, does that mean fake ghee is healthy? Let us unpack the details.
What Does the Research Say?
In a new study, researchers at IIT-BHU found that carrot extract might enable fake ghee to slip past some quality tests, making it even more challenging to distinguish genuine ghee from clever imitations. This study highlights how sophisticated food adulteration has become, which is quite worrisome. It is no longer just about mixing in cheap fats; fraudsters are now using natural ingredients to alter the appearance and behavior of fake ghee during tests, allowing it to pass as authentic.
Producing true ghee is costly, as it requires a significant amount of milk fat, which is expensive. This creates a strong temptation to cheat. Traditionally, adulterators have mixed in vanaspati, vegetable oils, palm or coconut oil, cottonseed oil, or other cheap fats, while labeling the product as pure ghee. However, the IIT-BHU researchers have now demonstrated that carrot extract can interfere with test results, making doctored samples appear more like real ghee. It is not that carrots themselves are harmful; the concern is that such natural masking agents can undermine even reliable checks, putting regulators in a difficult position.
How Did Researchers Detect Carrot Extract in Fake Ghee?
Throughout the food industry, fraudsters continuously devise new ways to stay ahead. To counter this, scientists are turning to advanced tools such as Raman spectroscopy, chromatography, machine learning, and computer vision. Unlike traditional screening methods, spectroscopic techniques can detect palm oil at much lower concentrations, significantly raising the bar for catching fraud. The IIT-BHU study fits into this larger effort, as researchers work to outpace the latest tricks in food adulteration.
This issue is not confined to the laboratory. India has witnessed numerous ghee scandals in recent years. Investigations have exposed shady procurement practices and revealed widespread vegetable fat contamination, even in brands sold as pure ghee.
Impact on Health
When examining the health impact, it depends on what is being mixed in. Vanaspati, a hydrogenated fat designed to mimic dairy, is still commonly used. Although new regulations have reduced industrial trans fats, vanaspati remains different from real ghee. Scientists point out that hydrogenated fats, in general, have been associated with increased heart risks and other health issues.
Other adulterants, such as palm oil, refined vegetable oils, and synthetic blends, are not necessarily toxic, but they still defraud consumers. People who purchase genuine ghee end up with a product that is nutritionally inferior. The difference is real.
Does Carrot Extract Make Fake Ghee Healthy?
The answer to this question is not straightforward. Traditional quality checks rely on chemical and physical differences between real milk fat and cheaper substitutes. Adding natural carrot extract alters the color and antioxidant profile, making adulterated fat appear more authentic. This complicates efforts by regulators and testing labs to detect fraud.
Adulteration is becoming increasingly complex. Over the years, studies have shown that fraudsters use a mix of vegetable oils, hydrogenated fats, and blended oils, specifically formulated to evade standard tests. That is why scientists have developed advanced methods such as FTIR spectroscopy, chromatography, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to catch new tricks.
What stands out from the IIT-BHU study is that carrot extract itself is not dangerous. The problem lies not in the ingredient but in its use to conceal food fraud. Carrot extract is rich in beta-carotene and antioxidants, and carrots contain vitamin A precursors, making them safe to eat. However, adding carrot extract to a mixture of cheap fats does not transform fake ghee into a healthy food. If the base is vegetable oil or hydrogenated fat, the carrot extract merely serves to mimic real ghee. Consumers do not receive the nutrition they expect.
Real ghee contains milk-fat components, fat-soluble vitamins, short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, and a unique fatty-acid profile. Although ghee should be consumed in moderation due to its high calorie and saturated fat content, it is fundamentally different from an adulterated product. The situation worsens when the substitute is vanaspati or hydrogenated vegetable fat, which can be loaded with industrial trans fats, harmful to heart health, inflammation, and metabolism. Hydrogenated oil remains one of the most common adulterants because it is cheap and mimics ghee's texture.
Thus, a natural fake ghee with carrot extract might look convincing, but it is still nutritionally inferior. Natural does not equate to healthy.
Many people mistakenly equate color with quality. Real ghee changes color depending on cow feed, season, milk source, and preparation method. Some genuine ghee is deep yellow, some pale gold, and some almost white. Color alone does not indicate purity.
The IIT-BHU study exposes a larger challenge for food safety officials. As fraudsters become more cunning, regulators need high-tech testing, not just basic screening. New spectroscopic and AI-powered tools can detect adulteration at levels as low as 1 to 2 percent, outperforming older methods.
For consumers, it is advisable to remember that while carrot extract is not harmful by itself, if it is used to hide fraud, fake ghee remains fake and is not healthier than real dairy ghee. The core issue is authenticity. People expect ghee to be genuine milk fat, not a cleverly disguised mixture. Whether the disguise is artificial or natural, the nutritional and ethical concerns remain the same.
