The Food And Drug Administration (FDA) is doing its best to keep all the eateries in the city up to the mark. The department has formed 13 special teams and is trying to trace out all the eateries who are violating the Food And Safety Act, in the 13 zones of Mumbai. The teams are inspecting sweet shops and confectioneries across Mumbai and gathering samples for subsequent laboratory analysis.
Joint Commissioner (Food), FDA, Shailesh Adhao, said that the department has undertaken a drive against substandard and adulterated food materials, especially sweets, edible oil, namkeen, mawa, and khoya. They have taken this step as the Diwali festival is around the corner.
Furthermore, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has stringent penalties for anyone found selling tainted, impure, or inferior edible commodities.
Shailesh Adhao further added that we can expect these drives in the future too. He said that if the samples collected by any of the 13 teams are found adulterated, unsafe, or injurious to health the owners of that food giant will be imprisoned for three months and a fine will be imposed on them.
Adhao added that if substandard or poor quality material comes to light while checking the collected samples, the adjudicating officer may fine between INR 2 lakh to INR 5 lakh, depending on the situation and profitability.
According to a top team official, manufacturers, vendors, and sweets shops used more contaminated and inferior ingredients throughout the festive season, even in spite of the FSSAI's standards. Shop owners selling loose or unpackaged sweets are urged to list all product characteristics, including manufacturing and expiration dates, on trays so that customers are aware of how long the candy can be consumed after purchase, as per the guidelines under food safety.
The FDA team discovered that a number of retailers or producers had been selling contaminated sweets to consumers, in violation of FSSAI regulations, resulting in various health problems. The FDA commissioner has directed the officials to take severe measures and revoke the licenses of those who break the law.
Additionally, the FDA has urged producers and vendors to use premium ingredients when creating confections and namkeen products to sell during the festival season. The senior official further added that they are tracking down mawa coming from Gujarat.
Recently, the FDA directed all pharmacists (retailers and wholesalers) to keep a record of drugs. FDA asked this owing to spurious drugs making their way from other states into Maharashtra. Speaking with media persons, a senior FDA official stated they had verified reports of wholesalers and merchants buying fake medications on a massive scale. He claimed that doing this might seriously endanger people's health.
Pharmacists are required by the FDA to set up a separate email account for daily data that must be shared with the authorities. The specifics must mention billing for the quantity of products purchased from other states.
The representative indicated that if any inconsistencies are discovered, appropriate action, including license cancellation, will be taken. According to another officer who spoke on the record on the condition of anonymity, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Gujarat in the north account for around 80% of all fake drug activities.
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