Mumbai food safety oversight is set to cover large catered gatherings more closely after Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said organisers and food businesses should inform the FDA before events where food is served to large crowds.
The statement follows a wedding in Bhandup at which 70 guests fell ill after consuming food. At least 34 people, including the newlywed couple and four children, were hospitalised with food poisoning, according to the Times of India report. Food samples from the event are being analysed.
The licence of Kalash Caterers, which supplied food for the gathering, has been suspended. The caterer’s owner is also facing police action, Mundhe said. The FDA commissioner did not disclose the results of the sample analysis, and the cause of the illness has not been established in the supplied report.
Mundhe said both event organisers and food businesses should notify the FDA when a vendor or caterer is engaged for a large event. “Any such events or get-together where a vendor or a caterer is arranged need to be told to FDA by both the arranger and the food business,” he said.
The Bhandup incident also involved a change in the number of meals required. Mundhe said the initial order was for 400 plates, but more people arrived at the event. A quarrel then took place between the organisers and the caterer, according to his account. Because of the additional demand, sweet items were supplied by another caterer.
The second caterer is also under investigation, with samples sent for analysis. The episode therefore involves not only the original caterer’s licence and police action, but also the food-supply arrangements that followed the increase in the number of guests.
Large weddings and other catered gatherings rely on multiple parties, including organisers, food businesses and suppliers. The FDA’s proposed notification requirement would give the regulator advance information about such events, although the supplied report does not specify the size threshold, notification procedure, timeline or whether the direction has been issued as a formal written order.
The immediate enforcement steps are the suspension of Kalash Caterers’ food licence, the police action against its owner, and the investigation into the second caterer. The FDA’s next stated step is to complete the analysis of food samples from the Bhandup wedding.
