Advocate seeks special drive against food adulteration in Maharashtra, with focus on Nagpur

NAGPUR: A demand has been raised for a special inspection drive across Maharashtra to curb adulteration in milk, milk products, sweets, edible oils and foods eaten during fasts. Advocate Akshay Samarth has appealed to the state government and the authorities concerned to carry out regular and surprise inspections, and to take strict legal action against those who violate food safety rules. He said the drive should give special attention to Nagpur city.

Samarth has submitted the representation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshwardhan Sapkal, seeking the necessary steps.

According to Samarth, milk, curd, paneer, khoya, mawa, ghee, butter, shrikhand and sweets are an important part of ordinary people's daily diet. Adulteration, unclean ingredients or harmful colours in them can pose a serious health risk, especially to children and the elderly.

He demanded regular checks of the milk, mawa, khoya, ghee, edible oil, colours and other raw materials used in dairies, milk vendors, sweet shops, hotels, restaurants, bakeries and street food carts.

Samarth said merely looking over shops from the outside is not enough. Samples of food items should be taken and tested scientifically in accredited laboratories, so that the real state of quality and purity can be known.

Demand for fasting foods rises during Navratri and other religious occasions. At such times, special checks have been sought on the quality and purity of rajgira flour, water chestnut (singhara) flour, buckwheat (kuttu) flour, sama rice, sabudana and products made from them. Regular checks have also been urged on the quality and safe use of the edible oils used in hotels, restaurants and roadside food stalls.

Samarth has asked for regular and surprise inspection drives across Maharashtra, especially in Nagpur, at dairies, milk vendors, sweet shops and other food establishments. According to him, inspectors should also check packaging, manufacturing date, expiry date, batch number, ingredient information, storage arrangements and compliance with hygiene rules.

He said that if inspections find adulteration, unclean ingredients, poor quality or disregard of food safety rules, strict action under the law should be taken against the sellers, manufacturers and establishments concerned. Where necessary, steps such as a ban on the sale of unsafe food items should also be taken.

Samarth also stressed public awareness. He said a special awareness campaign should be run to tell people how to identify adulteration, how to read the information on packets, and how to check manufacturing and expiry dates.