Food and drug authorities seize goods worth Rs 3.11 crore in Maharashtra crackdown

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has seized goods worth approximately ₹3.11 crore during a statewide crackdown. Officials confiscated 32,061 litres of edible oil and 37,128 kg of other food stock across the state.

Mumbai Seizures And Action

In Mumbai, authorities seized banned pan masala and scented tobacco worth ₹7.06 lakh from a Tata Intra V10 tempo, along with the vehicle valued at ₹3 lakh. A case was registered against Uday Sundar Yadav at the MIDC police station. FDA officials also inspected establishments in Kandivali, seizing items like spicy potato wafers, banana wafers, garlic sev, peanut bhujia, schezwan sticks, jalebi and Maharaja halwa due to suspected coloring. Enforcement action was taken against Arabian Shawarma Cafe and Fast Food, Nath Fast Food, Nair on Fire Cloud Kitchen and Bikaner Sweets and Namkin for poor hygiene, unclean kitchens, missing medical certificates for workers and other violations. Bikaner Sweets and Namkin received a closure notice.

Regional Raids And Adulteration

One of the largest seizures in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region occurred in Bhiwandi, where officials confiscated 11,779 litres of edible oil and 2,850 kg of tea worth ₹1.27 crore from Viraj Enterprises. Tests showed that stock sold as Jivo Pomace Olive Oil was actually pure groundnut oil. In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division, seizures reached around 33,940 kg of food products worth ₹87.52 lakh, including 31,866 kg of edible oil and sev-farsan mixture from four establishments in Parbhani district, led by 22,550 kg of sev-farsan mixture from Moti Namkeen Pvt Ltd. Khoa, pedha and kalakand were also seized in Dharashiv. Pune inspections resulted in the seizure of 9,000 kg of paneer, 440 kg of khoa and 9,888 litres of edible oil. Nagpur division saw seizures of 1,078.40 litres of refined soybean oil and 49 kg of khoa, while Ahilyanagar had 87 kg of bhagar seized. In Jalna, an Eicher vehicle carrying prohibited pan masala and scented tobacco worth ₹53.25 lakh was intercepted, bringing the total value of items and vehicles seized in Mumbai and Jalna to ₹93.42 lakh.

Context

The Food and Drug Administration regularly conducts checks to enforce safety standards and prevent the sale of harmful or fake items in markets. Consumers can report food safety issues to authorities through dedicated helplines and online portals.