- Maharashtra FDA targets hygiene violations in popular restaurants to ensure food safety
- FDA banned hospitals from forcing patients to buy medicines from in-house pharmacies
- Next FDA focus includes spices, edible oils, and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has defended the crackdown on several popular restaurants over hygiene violations, saying the regulator is focused on ensuring food safety rather than carrying out routine checks.
During an interview with The Economic Times, when asked what was driving the notices served on prominent eateries for falling short of hygiene standards, Mundhe said his approach was not confined to merely doing the job assigned to him.
"My role is to regulate and ensure that safe food and safe drugs are available," he told ET, adding that everything produced in Maharashtra must meet norms and follow standards.
The restaurant notices form part of a broader push by the FDA under Mundhe to widen its enforcement footprint.
The commissioner told the outlet that his department had also moved against hospitals that pressured patients into buying medicines from in-house pharmacies, barring the practice across several government-run facilities in cities including Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Solapur and Sangli.
Patients, he said, must be free to purchase prescribed drugs from any licensed pharmacy, whether inside a hospital campus or outside it.
Mundhe indicated that the FDA's scrutiny would not stop at restaurants and hospital pharmacies.
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Mundhe said the FDA's focus would now widen beyond restaurants, with spices and edible oils among the next products to come under closer scrutiny. He added that both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages also fall under the regulator's ambit, from quality standards to packaging, an area he believes often escapes public attention.
Turning to the pharmaceutical sector, he said the FDA has taken up the issue of overpriced medicines with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). According to Mundhe, the department has found cases where medicines that cost only a fraction to produce were being sold at significantly higher prices.
He also raised concerns over the misuse of antibiotics, saying some pharmacies continue to dispense them without valid prescriptions. The FDA is preparing stricter action against chemists and manufacturers found violating the rules, he added.
Asked about political pressure, Mundhe said enforcement would remain the same regardless of who was involved. Safe food and medicines, he said, are not open to compromise, and the department would continue acting against violations wherever they are found.
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