Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration has suspended 43 licences after a special inspection drive found food-safety violations at establishments selling sweets, khava-mava, paneer, farsan, Diwali snacks, dry fruits and edible oil. The inspections were conducted across the state on November 6 and 7, ahead of and during the Diwali season.
The action followed checks at 73 establishments, including sweet shops, hotels, clubs, canteens, grocery stores and e-commerce sellers. Three of the suspended licences are from establishments in the Pune division, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The department said the drive was intended to ensure that consumers received safe and quality food products during the festival period.
Inspectors found several operational and compliance deficiencies. These included improper storage of food, inadequate facilities for food handlers, lack of pest-control measures, missing records for the Food Safety Management System and FoSTaC training, and the absence of drinking-water test reports. Officials also found that some establishments did not have medical certificates for workers or purchase invoices for food products.
The violations were recorded under the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations. The Pune division recorded the seizure of 3,142 kilograms of food products valued at Rs 5,66,050, the department said.
The seized stock included 2,012 kilograms of halwa from Mahim Halwa Bhandar in Talawade, valued at Rs 2,41,440; 103 kilograms of kalakand from Popular Sweets in Pandharpur, valued at Rs 29,440; 153 kilograms of sweet mawa from Shriram Sweets in Solapur, valued at Rs 37,970; 829 kilograms of kandi peda from Rangoli Sweets in Akkalkot, valued at Rs 2,50,000; and 45 kilograms of refined soybean oil from Veerabhadra Traders in Kolhapur, valued at Rs 7,200.
The department also reported seizures across Maharashtra of products including dry-fruit rose balls, dry-fruit blueberries, sev, motichoor ladoos, besan vadi, balushahi, anarase, shankarpale and chakli. The seized products were classified by the authorities as being of suspicious quality, substandard or inferior quality.
In the Pune division, licences were suspended for Badhai Sweets in Janwadi, Pune city; Popular Sweets in Pandharpur, Solapur district; and Shriram Sweets in Solapur. The department said the rules applied equally to large and small businesses and warned that strict action would be taken against establishments that compromise public health.
Consumers can report concerns about food quality or suspected adulteration to the Food and Drug Administration’s toll-free number, 1800 222 365. Complaints can also be filed through the department’s online portal at complaints.mahafda.in.
