FDA raids 18 eateries, seizes over 24 food items

Mumbai: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday raided 18 restaurants in the city, seizing more than 24 food items that will be scrutinised for suspected adulteration and use of low-level ingredients. The raid comes ahead of the FDA’s drive against adulterated food in the run-up to New Year celebrations.

As part of this drive, the FDA will be conducting checks at various restaurants, pubs and dhabas in the city, as the demand for food and drinks goes up during this festive season. The FDA will check the quality of products used to prepare the dish as well as hygiene of the place of preparation, and will check for adulteration. According to information given by FDA officials, the drive will be carried out from December 15 to 31.

The FDA has deputed over 150 officers across the state to conduct surprise inspections. “We have instructed our food officers to collect samples from hotels and eateries and send them to the labs. The required action will be taken on the basis of results of the tests,” said a FDA official.  

Dr Pallavi Darade, FDA commissioner, told The Asian Age, “If there are any irregularities found in the food samples taken for testing, actions will be taken that fall under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD & C) Act. But since the law only helps them to seize their licences for a period of time, the offenders now order supplies in batches, so that if one batch is found faulty, the other can still be used.”

The annual drive coincides with the festive season when demand for food increases. During this period, hoteliers and shopkeepers tend to compromise on food
quality. Owing to which, like every year, this year too, the FDA is taking precautions. The food checks will take place from December 15 to 31.

Dr Darade said, “The action of impounding licenses or slapping them with fines is what FDA can do. Other than that, if they happen to come back in business the next year, we cannot stop them but can only keep an eye on the quality of food.”