Mumbai, Sep 12 (PTI) The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized more than 95 tonnes of food products and 172 litres of milk, collectively valued at about Rs 4.45 crore, across the state over the last two days, officials said on Saturday.
The FDA said in a statement that it carried out special inspections in Ahilyanagar, Pune, Nashik and Buldhana as part of its drive to ensure the availability of safe, hygienic and quality food during the upcoming festive season.
In Ahilyanagar, officials raided a cold storage facility and seized 75,368.8 kg of pasteurised cooking butter (unsalted), labelled “Madurama Creamy Delight”, worth Rs 3.95 crore.
The food-safety and regulatory agency said the stock was suspected to be of substandard quality and had labelling deficiencies. Officials sent samples to a laboratory for analysis and sealed the stock in the cold storage.
In Pune, officials intercepted two vehicles after receiving information that they were transporting large quantities of adulterated paneer, ‘khoya’ (milk solids), and curd for sale during the festive season, which begins with Ganesh Chaturthi on September 14.
The FDA found several irregularities, including transporting milk products in vehicles without temperature-control facilities, paneer brought from suppliers in Karnataka without purchase or sale invoices, products kept in unsealed polythene bags, and incomplete labelling, the statement said.
Officials collected 24 samples from the first vehicle and seized 7,362.5 kg of paneer and other food products worth Rs 17.15 lakh. From the second vehicle, they collected 12 samples and seized 6,081 kg of paneer worth Rs 14.55 lakh after finding similar deficiencies, it said.
In a separate inspection at “K B Agarwal in Budhwar Peth”, Pune, officials found 33 different lots of khoya kept for sale without any identification indicating their source. After collecting samples, the FDA seized 4,627 kg of khoya worth Rs 11.56 lakh. The food business operator later destroyed the entire stock at Hadapsar with consent, the statement said.
The three Pune operations together resulted in the collection of 69 samples and seizure of 18,070.5 kg of food products worth Rs 43.27 lakh, the statement said. Officials sent all samples to food analysts and said they would take further action after receiving laboratory reports.
In Nashik, the agency intercepted a vehicle transporting special sweet barfi from Gujarat and seized 1,955 kg of the product worth Rs 5.58 lakh after collecting 10 samples, the statement said.
In Buldhana district, FDA officials inspected a milk collection centre of the Marathwada Milk Producers’ Association at Yerli in Nandura taluka and found several violations, it said.
The violations included absence of registration, inadequate arrangements during milk collection, incomplete stainless-steel equipment, lack of temperature maintenance and non-availability of records relating to milk suppliers, pest control, medical fitness and water testing, it said.
Officials collected one sample each of cow milk and buffalo milk and seized 139 litres of cow milk and 33 litres of buffalo milk, collectively valued at Rs 7,863. The FDA destroyed the stock as it was perishable and the operator had failed to maintain proper records, the statement said.
FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said the administration was keeping a close watch on the quality of food products in Maharashtra and warned that it would not spare anyone found compromising public health. He said the department would continue stringent action against those selling adulterated or misbranded food products. PTI ND NR
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