‘Regulates food safety, not festivals’: FDA chief Tukaram Mundhe clarifies new order
Maharashtra FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe clarified that a new 'Festival Enforcement Calendar' is intended to standardize food safety inspections, not to restrict religious or cultural festivals. The directive aims to ensure compliance with existing food safety laws during large public gatherings.
Why it matters
The clarification addresses public concerns regarding government overreach into cultural practices while emphasizing the importance of public health and food safety standards.
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) new year-round festival food-safety directive is aimed at preventing food adulteration and ensuring safe food at public gatherings, not regulating how festivals are celebrated, FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said.Mundhe said the directive applies uniformly to festivals and gatherings across communities, including weddings, bhandaras, Eid, Christmas and New Year's Eve events, and does not introduce any new restrictions on religious or cultural activities."We are not regulating festivals; we are ensuring that food served at festivals - just as in weddings, bhandaras, Eid, Christmas, New Year's Eve events and other gatherings - is safe and compliant with a law that has existed since 2011," Mundhe told PTI.After months of intensified action against food adulteration, the FDA recently introduced a year-round "Festival Enforcement Calendar" to systematically monitor food safety during festivals, news agency PTI reported."There appears to be some misunderstanding and apprehension regarding the standing…
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