Since the commencement of the festive season September onwards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a statewide campaign on August 11 to ensure that public health risks were minimised. Checking the quality of food items which are in high demand during the season, 2,369 samples of milk, khoya, edible oils, sweets, dry fruits and chocolates were collected as part of the initiative. While reports of 554 samples have been released, 513 out of the total were declared safe for consumption while 26 were found to be sub-standard and 4 with labelling defects. In addition, 11 samples were branded unfit for consumption while results for the remaining 1,815 samples are still awaited. FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal announced in a statement that food adulteration during the festive season will be met with zero tolerance.
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The proactive measure, undertaken under the ‘San Maharashtra Cha - Sankalp Ann Surakshecha’ (Festival of Maharashta - Commitment to Food Safety) initiative, has recruited over 200 Assistant Commissioners (Food) and Food Safety Officers for vacancies long overdue since 2022. Along with this, they also submitted a proposal to hire people for 750 open positions to the Finance Department, in a bid to enhance regulatory oversight. In addition to this, the Zirwal also stated that the milk adulteration campaign was also going to be expanded statewide, since the demand for milk and milk products are particularly high during this time. Since medicine prices have also dropped due to GST reforms, the warning issued by him also mentioned that drug retailers failing to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) benefits to consumers will also be faced with strict consequences.
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As part of the up and coming plans, new food testing laboratories will be ready for inauguration soon in Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Pune. Zirwal also mentioned in his official statement that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has also sanctioned a budget of 200 crores to strengthen laboratory infrastructure within the state. Along with this a sum of 25 crores has been sanctioned to the Haffkine Institute for the production of polio vaccines along with 1.5 crores for the production of anti-snake venom.