A statewide food safety drive in Maharashtra has led to the suspension of licences of 29 businesses, including 25 food establishments and four units manufacturing edible oil and spices, FDA officials said on Friday.
Among those facing action were six Domino’s Pizza outlets in Pune division, along with establishments in Jalna and Parbhani under the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration also confiscated around 81,330 kg of food products suspected to be substandard, adulterated or incorrectly labelled. The seized stock, recovered from 37 establishments across six divisions, was valued at Rs 1.73 crore.
In a press release, it said the seized stock included edible oil, chilli and turmeric powder, areca nut, dry fruits, sabudana, bhagar, rajgira, tea powder and sweets.
"Samples of the seized products have been sent for laboratory analysis. Further legal action will be taken under Food Safety and Standards Act after the reports are received," it added.
The action against food establishments followed inspections that revealed violations of Schedule 4 of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011, the FDA said.
Licences of seven establishments in Mumbai division and two in Konkan were suspended, while the figure was eight each for Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar divisions.
The FDA said the action revealed several hygiene-related violations, including live cockroaches, fungal contamination, unclean utensils, improper storage and inadequate segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
A closure notice was also issued to a sweet manufacturer in Mumbai after officials found violations relating to its manufacturing premises and hygiene.
Separately, action against suspected substandard, adulterated and mislabelled food products resulted in seizures worth Rs 1.73 crore, with the department reporting action against 37 establishments.
"In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division, 37,251 kg of stock worth Rs 48.40 lakh was seized, and licences of four units were suspended. The seizures included soybean oil, chilli powder, turmeric powder and edible salt," the FDA said.
In Nagpur division, stock worth Rs 45.75 lakh, including areca nut, spices, tea powder and sweets, was seized.
In Konkan division, the value of seized stock stood at Rs 31.95 lakh, while Pune division reported seizures worth Rs 36.25 lakh, it said.
In Nashik division, food products worth Rs 10.64 lakh were seized.
"The FDA also conducted a special drive against banned food products on October 14 and 15. It inspected 13 establishments and vehicles across Mumbai, Pune, Konkan and Nagpur divisions and seized banned stock worth Rs 18.83 lakh along with two vehicles. The total value of seized property exceeded Rs 21.83 lakh," the release informed.
Ten FIRs were registered and offences were recorded against 10 accused, while four establishments were sealed.
"In Pune, six FIRs were filed, six persons were arrested and three establishments sealed. In Konkan, one person was arrested and one establishment sealed, while one person was arrested in Nagpur," it said.
In Mumbai, cases were registered against two accused in separate operations involving vehicles carrying banned products, the FDA added.
"The department is conducting statewide inspections to prevent the sale, storage and transportation of banned food products and to ensure compliance with food safety regulations," FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said.