The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) will direct the Tamil Nadu Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take strict action against the makers of Coldrif syrup, which led to the deaths of at least 11 children in Madhya Pradesh, according to officials. The cough syrup prescribed to the children, when tested by authorities, was found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG) in excess of permissible limits.
The standard permissible amount of Dietylene Glycol (DEG) in cough syrups is 0.01 per cent. When the Tamil Nadu government tested the Coldriff Cough syrup, manufactured by Srisan Pharmaceuticals, it was found to contain 48.6 per cent of the substance.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Following the deaths of children in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh after consuming a cough syrup prescribed by doctors, Madhya Pradesh State Food and Drug Controller Dinesh Kumar Maurya requested the Tamil Nadu State Drug Control Department to inspect… pic.twitter.com/Em6yEGNUMM
— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2025
DEG and Ethylene Glycol (EG) are colourless, odourless liquids with a sweet taste primarily used in industrial applications. It is a solvent used in antifreeze, paints, brake fluids, and plastics.
The solvent used in medicines to make them syrupy is pharmaceutical-grade propylene glycol (PG), a liquid that does not react with other substances. Industrial-grade PG, the cheaper version that is used in antifreeze and paint, often contains more DEG and EG and is not intended for human consumption.
A 2023 report by Reuters found that prices for pharmaceutical-grade PG jumped in India due to supply chain disruptions.
Suppliers and pharmaceutical companies using cheaper industrial-grade material were found to be the reason the toxic substance showed up in medicines.
When ingested, DEG and EG metabolise into diglycolic acid, a substance that causes severe kidney, liver, and nerve damage.
This is not the first time children have died in the country after consuming syrup containing DEG. In 2019, 16 children were poisoned after consuming syrup containing above permissible amounts of the substance in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the 2023 report by Reuters. The syrup responsible for that was manufactured by Digital Vision Pharma, based in Himachal Pradesh. The syrups the children took had a 34 per cent concentration of DEG.
The criminal probe that followed the case had found that nearly nine in 10 of some 160 factories in the country had violations.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly warned of cough syrups contaminated with DEG and EG, linking them to over 300 child deaths worldwide since 2022. WHO had learned of the 2019 incident in Jammu and Kashmir only after it investigated 70 cough syrup-related deaths in Gambia, a West African country that bought medicines from an Indian company.
