{"id":10287489,"date":"2025-10-04T16:09:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T10:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/?post_type=article&p=10287489"},"modified":"2025-10-04T16:09:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T10:39:51","slug":"maharashtra-inspections-sweet-shops-check-food-adulteration-diwali-10287489","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/mumbai\/maharashtra-inspections-sweet-shops-check-food-adulteration-diwali-10287489\/","title":{"rendered":"Maharashtra launches inspections in sweet shops to check food adulteration ahead of Diwali"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahead of Diwali celebrations, the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration Department (FDA) has launched a statewide food safety drive to combat food adulteration. As of Saturday, the officials have inspected 1,594 sweet shops and collected 2,369 food samples for analysis.<\/p><\/ev-engagement><\/ev-engagement>

\n

According to Minister Narhari Zirwal, the campaign titled \u2018Festival of Maharashtra \u2013 Commitment to Food Safety’ covers a wide variety of food products, including milk, khoya (condensed milk), ghee, edible oils, sweets, dry fruits, and chocolates.<\/p>\n

“Of the 554 sample reports received so far, 513 were certified safe, 26 were found substandard, four had labelling defects, and 11 samples were deemed unsafe for consumption. Reports on the remaining 1,815 samples are still pending,” Zirwal stated, emphasizing that the milk adulteration inspection campaign will be expanded.<\/p>\n

He further warned that food and drug\u00a0sellers who do not pass on GST reductions to consumers will face strict regulatory action, underscoring the government\u2019s commitment to consumer protection during the festive season.<\/p>\n

To bolster enforcement efforts, the FDA has completed the recruitment of over 200 Assistant Commissioners (Food) and Food Safety Officers, posts that had been pending since 2022. Additionally, a proposal for 750 new posts has been submitted to the Finance Department.<\/p>\n

To make the initiative successful through timely testing, the infrastructure in laboratories has also been significantly upgraded. Food testing laboratories in Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Pune<\/a> are also set for inauguration soon.<\/p>\n

The FDA department has proposed 250 additional posts in the labs, with Rs 200 crore funding approved by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar, to make the testing effective.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Minister Narhari Zirwal, the campaign titled \u2018Festival of Maharashtra \u2013 Commitment to Food Safety’ covers a wide variety of food products, including milk, khoya, ghee, edible oils, sweets, dry fruits, and chocolates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10287508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","tags":[374463,442185557],"ie_section":[38369,442186297],"ie_topic":[],"ie_city":[4010],"ie_story_template":[],"ie_story_from":[],"ie_agency":[24140655],"ie_byline_authors":[],"ie_written_by_agency":[442186124],"ie_reported_by":[],"ie_reported_by_agency":[],"ie_edited_by":[],"ie_edited_by_agency":[],"ie_exclusive":[],"ie_curated_by":[],"ie_article_content_type":[],"ie_brand_solutions":[],"ie_et_al_microsite_tag":[],"ie_ipl_teams":[],"ie_fifa_teams":[],"ie_pkl_teams":[],"ie_sponsored_tags":[],"ie_author_custom_dimension":[635436194],"ie_t20_worldcup":[],"ie_cwc_teams":[],"ep_custom_result":[],"class_list":["post-10287489","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-diwali","tag-maharashtra","ie_section-cities","ie_section-mumbai","ie_city-mumbai","ie_agency-express-news-service","ie_written_by_agency-express-news-service","ie_author_custom_dimension-digital-first"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/mumbai\/maharashtra-inspections-sweet-shops-check-food-adulteration-diwali-10287489\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebPage","headline":"Maharashtra 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