Maharashtra FDA Cracks Down on Festive Food Adulteration

In preparation for the upcoming festive season in Maharashtra, the state's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a special campaign to ensure food safety and hygiene standards. The campaign, titled 'San Maharashtracha, Sankalp Anna Surakshathika Abhiyan,' will run from August 11 to October 25, covering major festivals like Ganeshotsav, Eid, Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali.

As part of the initiative, the FDA will conduct sudden inspections of eateries, sweet shops, street vendors, and production units across the state, including major cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The goal is to keep a check on food adulteration and ensure compliance with hygiene standards. The FDA is also organizing workshops to educate traders, mandal organizers, and women's self-help groups on best practices and legal requirements during the high-demand festive period.

According to FDA secretary Dheeraj Kumar, the risk of adulteration increases during festivals when the demand for sweets, modaks, and other festive foods skyrockets. The FDA is working to increase the number of food testing labs in the state and provide more manpower to the department to tackle this issue. FDA commissioner Rajesh Narvekar emphasized that the training sessions aim to ensure traders fully comply with the law so that the festivals can be celebrated without compromising public health.