FDA seizes adulterated food items worth ₹24 lakh during Diwali drive
The FDA in Pune seized substandard food worth ₹24.7 lakh during Diwali, issuing notices to 83 businesses for violations of food safety norms.
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) in Pune seized suspected substandard food items worth ₹ 24.7 lakh during its special drive conducted during the Diwali festival.
The drive across the Pune division includes Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur districts. The action was taken as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and Regulation 2011.
Adulterated food items that include milk, ghee, adulterated butter, sweet khoya, and vanaspati were seized. Show cause notice has been issued to 83 food business operators and one establishment was issued a closure notice due to severe violations of the food safety norms, officials said.
According to the officials, the FDA conducted inspections at 48 food establishments in the Pune district and collected 55 samples of food products such as milk, khoya, paneer, sweet mawa, ghee, butter, and namkeen for analysis in the laboratory. Various food establishments were also raided on suspicion of adulteration, and the FDA seized stock worth ₹ 14,88,398.
Suresh Annapure, joint commissioner FDA (food), Pune, said, all food items are sent to the government laboratory for analysis and further action will be taken as per the law once the analysis reports are received.
“We urge citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicions of food adulteration,” he said.
Citizens can report if they come across adulteration by calling the toll-free number 1800222356.
In the Pune division, food inspectors inspected 83 food establishments and collected a total of 102 food samples for analysis. Raids were carried out at locations suspected of selling adulterated food products. During these operations, a stock of food items valued at ₹ 9,19,520, which were suspected to be adulterated, was seized.