Maharashtra FDA seizes food items worth Rs 25.53 lakh amid statewide inspections

FDA officials at Curated Foods, Goregaon East. Pic/By Special Arrangement

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized food articles worth Rs 25.53 lakh from 14 food business establishments during statewide inspections on October 25 and 26, officials said on Tuesday.

The inspections covered the Greater Mumbai, Konkan, Pune, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur and Amravati divisions. Officials seized around 9385 kg of food articles, 7566 packets of expired food, 7104 bottles of carbonated beverages and 88 litres of milk.

The seized items included mawa, sweets, namkeen, shev, chivda, chips, dry fruits, soya chunks, wheat flour and desiccated coconut powder.

FDA warns of strict action

FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe warned: "Strict action will be taken against operators found selling substandard, unsafe or adulterated food. No laxity in enforcing food safety will be tolerated." The FDA advised citizens to buy food only from licensed or registered outlets, to avoid loose or unlabelled products, and check manufacturing details.

14 sites inspected

>> Mumbai and Konkan: Ananta Food Products (Bhandup West); Curated Foods (Goregaon East); Cloudstore Retail Pvt Ltd (Padgha-Bhiwandi)

>> Pune, and Nashik: Prathmesh Products and Mahila Gruha Udyog (Pune); Sachin Industries (Dhule)

>> Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Bikaner Mithaiwala (Waluj); Varadvinayak Enterprises (Nanded); Pable Namkeen (Beed); Sahyadri Foods (Jalna); Zum Zum Industries (Beed); Korde Foods (Latur)

>> Nagpur and Amravati: Giridhari Trading (Nagpur); Rajhans Dudh Agency (Amravati); KL Food Industry (Amravati)

Violations found

Officials cited violations including sale of food without proper labels, unhygienic manufacturing and packaging, suspected substandard or adulterated products, and absence of valid licences. In one case, an operator failed to produce records of disposal of expired stock. The largest seizures by value were made at Curated Foods, where officials seized 690 kg of dry fruits and roasted almonds worth '6.79 lakh, and Cloudstore Retail, where they found 7566 packets of expired food worth R6.88 lakh.

What the FDA seized

Total value: Rs 25,53,758
Food articles Around: 9385 kg
Expired packaged food: 7566 packets
Establishments: 14
Milk: 88 litres
Carbonated beverages: 7104 bottles