The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has ordered intensified checks on packaged flour, edible oil, spices and Diwali snacks after reports that expired flour was being sold during the festive season. The inspections will cover retailers, wholesalers, dealers and semi-dealers across the state, with Pune among the locations where enforcement activity has been highlighted.
FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said the department had received information about the sale of expired flour used to prepare poli and bhakri. He directed officials to examine packaged flour and said the purpose of the inspections was not to harass traders, but to act against adulteration and violations of food-safety rules.
Mundhe made the comments on Sunday at the inauguration of the Poona Merchants Chamber’s laddoo and chivda sales centre. He said the FDA had already begun action 21 days before the festive season and would now intensify checks across the food-supply chain. The inspections are expected to include retail shops, wholesale establishments and distribution points.
The commissioner also said that cases of adulteration had been detected in edible oil and spices. According to the report, the department has seized 28,000 quintals of oil and nearly 20,000 quintals of spices so far. The figures and enforcement actions were cited by Mundhe while outlining the department’s recent work across Maharashtra.
The FDA has issued standard operating procedures for the festive period and plans to inspect snacks sold during Diwali in the coming days. The checks are intended to establish whether food products meet safety requirements and whether packaged items are being sold within their permitted shelf life. Consumers are legally entitled to safe and unadulterated food, Mundhe said.
The enforcement push comes amid complaints from some trader organisations and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut that FDA officials were unnecessarily troubling businesses. Mundhe said traders should submit evidence if an FDA officer demanded money or harassed them without cause. At the same time, he warned that a complaint should not be filed merely because an officer had visited a shop for an inspection.
The episode highlights the administrative challenge of monitoring a large and decentralised food market during a period of sharply increased festive demand. The FDA commissioner acknowledged that the department does not have enough staff in relation to Maharashtra’s population and appealed to residents to report suspected adulteration.
Mundhe, a 2005-batch IAS officer, took charge as Maharashtra FDA commissioner towards the end of May 2026. The department’s current campaign has also included action involving alleged adulteration and unhygienic conditions in hotels and restaurants. The FDA’s next steps are the planned inspections of Diwali snacks and the continued checks of packaged flour and other food products across the supply chain.
