Pune: FDA To Conduct Special Drive To Crack Down On Adulterated Food Items During Diwali

With Diwali around the corner, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is increasing its vigilance and will be conducting a special drive to ensure public health and safety by keeping a check on substandard and potentially adulterated food items across the Pune region. As per the officials, a special drive will be conducted to check adulteration, and inspections will be carried out on food business operators selling sweets in Pune. The team will focus on items like ghee, rawa, khawa, oil, pulses, flour, and other products that are in demand during the festival. The suspected samples of raw materials and sweets will be sent to the laboratory to check for adulteration.

Recently, on October 18, in a press release, it was notified that the FDA seized food items worth ₹10.35 lakh in a special drive conducted during the Navratri festival. In Pune district alone, the FDA inspected 10 establishments and collected 19 food samples, which included milk, cream, paneer, khoya, ghee, butter, and namkeen. In Pune district, food items worth ₹7 lakh were confiscated. Beyond Pune, the drive extended to 28 other establishments across the Pune division. FDA officials collected 15 food samples during the inspection and sent them for laboratory analysis. A total of ₹3.35 lakh worth of adulterated food products were seized across the division, bringing the total value of confiscated items in the Pune region to ₹10.35 lakh.

Suresh Annapure, Pune region's joint commissioner of the FDA, said, "We will be conducting an inspection to ensure that the food people consume during Diwali is safe and of high quality. We have instructed all the officials to inspect their local regions and seize any suspected food material. The sample items will then be sent to the laboratory, and FDA will take action based on the results of these tests."

Annapure added, "During Diwali, the demand for dairy products such as ghee, butter, khoya, and maida increases. The FDA team is focused on preventing the sale of these items, which pose a risk to public health. We will also conduct inspections of free sweets distributed during the Diwali festival to ensure they are safe and not adulterated."

He encouraged citizens to report any cases of suspected food adulteration they may come across. He also stressed that public cooperation is key to ensuring food safety, and stated that citizens can report cases of adulteration on the FDA's toll-free number, 1800222356.