Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora has called on the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to replicate Maharashtra's food safety enforcement drive across the country, holding up the state's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a model worth scaling nationally.
In a post on X, Deora wrote that "what Maharashtra's FDA is doing to regulate food safety should become the national standard," urging FSSAI "to show the same urgency across India, especially on packaged foods." He added that hygiene and tackling India's obesity epidemic "must become national priorities."
What Maharashtra's FDA is doing to regulate food safety should become the national standard. I urge @fssaiindia to show the same urgency across India, especially on packaged foods. Hygiene & tackling India's obesity epidemic must become national priorities.
— Milind Deora | मिलिंद देवरा (@milinddeora) July 30, 2026
Deora's remarks come amid a sweeping crackdown led by Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, a 2005-batch IAS officer who took charge in May and has since overseen an aggressive enforcement drive against adulteration and hygiene violations across the state.
Since assuming office, Mundhe has directed officials to intensify scrutiny of the entire food supply chain, from dairies and distributors to restaurants and retail outlets, rather than relying solely on market sampling.
The campaign has included a major operation in Shirdi in June, where roughly 700 kilograms of adulterated prasad peda were seized and destroyed near the Sai Baba temple, and a two-day statewide crackdown in early July covering 16 hotels, restaurants and dhabas, resulting in improvement notices and licence suspensions.
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High-profile actions have also touched well-known Mumbai establishments, including the suspension of ice cream parlour K Rustom & Co.'s licence over hygiene lapses, and more recently the suspension of Parsi Dairy Farm Pvt Ltd's licence following similar violations. Parsi Dairy Farm recently resumed operations after the Maharashtra FDA lifted the suspension of its licence following corrective measures
According to figures reported earlier this month, the FDA under Mundhe conducted over 1,100 raids within two months of his taking charge, seizing food products worth approximately Rs 49.57 crore, including over 1.6 lakh litres of allegedly adulterated milk.
Mundhe, known for his uncompromising administrative style, has previously said adulteration of essentials such as milk amounts to "playing with public health."
Deora's appeal signals growing political support for extending Maharashtra's enforcement model to the national regulator, at a time when concerns over packaged food quality and rising lifestyle diseases have gained increasing public attention.
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