The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration is intensifying inspections and sampling of festive food products across the state ahead of Navratri and Diwali, following a directive from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to curb adulteration, counterfeiting and the sale of unsafe food.
The enforcement drive will focus on sweets, milk products, ghee, edible oils, snacks, beverages and other foods that see increased demand during the festive season. Regional products, including kuttu and singhada atta, have also been included in the priority list under the FSSAI directions.
In a circular issued on September 29, the FSSAI instructed states and Union Territories to conduct special enforcement drives at identified markets and other hotspots. The directions include inspections, collection of samples and the deployment of Food Safety on Wheels vans in major markets for on-the-spot testing.
The Maharashtra FDA will also be required to upload inspection and sampling details in real time on the FoSCoS and FoSCoS-RIS platforms. The digital reporting requirement is intended to allow enforcement activity and test results to be monitored through the central food safety system.
Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe told Mid-Day that the department had already begun enforcement action under festival orders and would continue the drive. “We have already been taking action. Festival orders have been issued and action is being taken under them,” Mundhe said.
Officials are expected to increase surveillance at food manufacturing units, wholesale markets, retail outlets and other businesses handling festive products. Products suspected to be adulterated or unsafe will be sent for laboratory testing, with further enforcement action to follow the findings.
The inspections will cover markets and food businesses where demand for sweets, dairy-based preparations, savouries, edible oils and other ready-to-eat products rises during the festive period. The increased demand places pressure on manufacturing, distribution and retail networks, making checks across the supply chain a central part of the enforcement exercise.
The FDA’s action will also examine food businesses that may be operating without complying with food safety requirements and help identify repeat offenders, officials said. The enforcement process will therefore involve both consumer-facing outlets and upstream suppliers involved in production and wholesale distribution.
The FSSAI directive requires states to maintain real-time records of inspections and samples during the special drive. Maharashtra’s enforcement activity will continue through the festive season under the state FDA’s festival orders, with laboratory findings determining further action against suspected adulterated or unsafe products.
