To get ghee tested in a lab, send about 200 g in its sealed jar to an NABL-accredited food laboratory, preferably one on FSSAI's list of notified labs, and ask for the tests in FSSAI's ghee standard: moisture, BR reading, RM value, Polenske value, free fatty acids, the Baudouin test and β-sitosterol. A buyer can also use section 40 of the Food Safety and Standards Act to have a government Food Analyst test it.
This guide covers getting the test done. For a report you already hold, see our guide to reading a ghee lab report; for kitchen checks, see how to tell if ghee is pure.
At a glance
- Section 40 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 lets any purchaser have food analysed by a Food Analyst for a fee, provided the seller is told at the time of purchase.
- Under section 46 of the same Act, the Food Analyst sends a section 40 report within 14 days, to the buyer with a copy to the Designated Officer.
- FSSAI's Laboratory and Sample Analysis Regulations set about 200 g as the sample of ghee to send to a Food Analyst.
- FSSAI regulation 2.1.8 limits ghee to 0.5 per cent moisture and 2.0 per cent free fatty acids, with a BR reading of 40.0 to 44.0 and an RM value of at least 24.0.
- FSSAI's September 2026 order lists its notified laboratories with their NABL accreditation validity as on 7 September 2026.
What are the two ways to get ghee tested in a lab?
You can use the legal route or pay a laboratory directly. The legal route is section 40 of the Food Safety and Standards Act: a government Food Analyst tests ghee you bought, and the report also goes to the food safety authorities. The direct route is to commission an accredited laboratory as its client, which suits a seller checking their own batches.
Section 40 sets two conditions and one protection.
- Tell the seller. The purchaser "shall inform the food business operator at the time of purchase" of the intention to have the food analysed.
- Pay the fee. The Laboratory and Sample Analysis Regulations say the fees are "as prescribed by the Food Authority from time to time", so ask the laboratory for the current figure.
- Refund if it fails. If the report shows the ghee does not comply with the Act, rules or regulations, the purchaser is entitled to a refund of the fee.
A failing result does not stop with you: section 40(2) has the Food Analyst forward the report to the Designated Officer for prosecution. On the direct route you choose the laboratory, agree the tests and receive the report yourself, and none of these section 40 provisions applies.
What is an FSSAI-notified, NABL-accredited lab?
It is a laboratory accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) that FSSAI has notified for analysing food samples. Section 43 of the Act lets the Food Authority notify laboratories accredited by NABL or another accreditation agency for this purpose, and FSSAI publishes the list as an order.
The latest order we opened lists FSSAI-recognised laboratories "along with the validity of their NABL accreditation as of 07 Sep, 2026, and contact details". For each it gives the address, NABL certificate number, validity for chemical and biological testing, a contact person and its Food Analyst, and it notes that each lab's detailed scope may be seen on the NABL website under Laboratory Search.
Accreditation covers a defined scope of tests, not a whole laboratory, so check that the scope includes the ghee tests you want and that it is still valid. Recognition is "governed by the guidelines or orders issued by FSSAI from time to time", so use the latest list.
Which tests should you ask for?
Ask for every parameter in the ghee column of FSSAI regulation 2.1.8, the Standard for Milk Fat Products. Together they check that the product is milk fat, dry and fresh enough, with no added vegetable fat. Ordering only one or two tests leaves gaps that a cheaper fat can slip through.
| Test | What it detects | FSSAI limit for ghee, as published |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture, % (m/m) | Water left in the fat, measured as loss in mass on drying at 105 °C | 0.5 maximum |
| Milk fat, % (m/m) | How much of the product is fat | 99.5 minimum |
| Butyro-refractometer (BR) reading at 40 °C | Most vegetable oils and fats, which read higher than milk fat | 40.0 to 44.0 |
| Reichert-Meissl (RM) value | Butyric and caproic acids, which are peculiar to milk fat | 24.0 minimum |
| Polenske value | Caprylic and capric acids | 0.5 to 2.0 |
| Free fatty acids as oleic acid, % | Fat broken down by hydrolysis | 2.0 maximum |
| Baudouin test | Sesame oil, the marker that vanaspati must contain | Negative |
| β-sitosterol | Vegetable oil, by an RP-HPLC method FSSAI notified in 2019 | Absent |
| Fatty acid composition, by GLC | The share of each of twelve fatty acids | Within Table 1 of the standard |
The descriptions come from FSSAI's Manual of Methods of Analysis for milk and milk products (2015), which cites a 1962 notification requiring vanaspati to contain at least 5 per cent sesame oil so that it can be detected in ghee. Each limit is explained in our article on ghee quality parameters. The standard sets no peroxide value for ghee, so ask for it separately if you want a measure of oxidation; the manual says fresh ghee reads zero.
How should you take and send the sample?
Send an unopened jar if you can, with enough ghee for the tests and labelled so that the result ties to one batch. FSSAI's regulations set about 200 g as the sample of ghee for a Food Analyst. Keep the original seal and label, and record where and when you bought it.
- Agree the tests first. Ask the laboratory which tests it is accredited for and how much ghee it needs.
- For section 40, tell the seller. Inform the seller at the time of purchase that you intend to have the ghee analysed; the Act makes this a condition.
- Send at least 200 g. That is the approximate quantity the regulations give for ghee.
- Keep it in its original sealed container. The Act requires a Food Analyst to compare the seal on a sample container with a specimen and note its condition; it must report a container that arrives broken or unfit for analysis.
- If you must transfer it, use a clean, dry glass jar. Moisture is one of the tested parameters, so any water left in the container goes into the result.
- Label it. Write the product name, batch code, date and place of purchase, and the date you sent it. Keep the receipt.
- Keep it out of heat and sunlight. FSSAI's manual has the laboratory mix the ghee in the container it arrived in, in a cool place away from direct sunlight, so the same care before it leaves you makes sense.
When a Food Safety Officer samples food, the Act has the sample divided into four sealed parts, so a disputed result can be retested. Keeping a second sealed jar from the same batch gives you the same option.
What should the lab report show?
A proper report names the sample, shows each test with the method used, gives the result beside the legal limit, and is signed. FSSAI's Form B, the Report of the Food Analyst, has exactly those columns: quality characteristics, name of the method of the test used, results, and prescribed standards under the food product regulations.
Form B also records the date of receipt and the condition of the seals, the regulation the food falls under (2.1.8 for ghee), the dates analysis started and finished, and the basis for any opinion given. A private laboratory's report will look different, but ask for the same content, and check that its tests fall within the lab's NABL scope. Himdhara publishes the report for each batch on the lab reports page before the batch ships, and every jar carries a batch code, so you can match a report to the jar in your hand.
What can a single test not tell you?
A single test describes the sample you sent, on the tests you ordered. It does not show that every jar or batch from the same seller is the same, and it says nothing about tests you did not order. Three more limits are worth knowing.
- Contaminants are separate. Regulation 2.1.8 refers contaminants, toxins and residues to a different FSSAI regulation. Pesticide, heavy-metal or aflatoxin tests have to be ordered by name.
- Some tests miss some fats. FSSAI's manual says the BR reading flags vegetable oils and fats "except coconut oil (38 to 39) and palm oil (39 to 40)", which sit close to milk fat. That is why the full panel matters.
- Natural values vary. The manual notes that ghee from animals fed cotton seed can have an RM value of about 20, below the legal minimum, without any adulteration.
For what these tests catch and what they miss, our article on ghee adulteration in India sets out the common cheats one by one.
The short version
Send about 200 g of ghee in its sealed, labelled jar to an NABL-accredited laboratory on FSSAI's current list, and check that its scope covers the tests. Ask for the full FSSAI 2.1.8 panel, and order contaminant tests separately. Under section 40, a buyer who tells the seller at purchase can use a Food Analyst, with the report due within 14 days. A good report shows method, result and legal limit side by side, for the sample tested only.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Government of India (2006). The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, sections 40, 43, 46 and 47. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2021). Food Safety and Standards (Laboratory and Sample Analysis) Regulations, 2011, version III, regulation 2.3.1 and Form B. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011: Chapter 2.1, Dairy products and analogues, regulation 2.1.8, Standard for Milk Fat Products. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2015). Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products, section 13, Ghee. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2026). Validity of FSSAI recognised Food Testing Laboratories. FSSAI Quality Assurance Division.