Maharashtra FDA food safety order not a curb on festival celebrations: Tukaram Mundhe

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration's recent directive on food safety is meant to monitor and prevent food adulteration, and not to place any curbs on festivals, FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has said. He said the order is part of an existing legal framework and is aimed at ensuring that food served at festivals and other large gatherings is safe.

"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 news agency PTI.

After months of a crackdown on food adulteration, the FDA recently introduced a year-round "Festival Enforcement Calendar" to systematically check food adulteration during festivals. Mundhe said there appeared to be "some misunderstanding and apprehension" about the standing order issued for food-safety arrangements during festivals and large public gatherings. "The order does not regulate festivals. It regulates food safety," he said.

Mundhe said the legal framework on food safety, including registration and licencing of Food Business Operators, has been in place since 2011 and has been operational for years. He said the present order does not create a new law, impose a new licencing regime, or introduce fresh restrictions on festivals.

He said festival-related food-safety directions were often issued separately as individual festivals approached. The latest order, he said, creates a standing framework for the full year, covering festivals and large gatherings across communities and religions.

The objective, according to Mundhe, is to ensure that officers, vendors, caterers, food business operators and organisers are clear about their roles and responsibilities. "This reduces ambiguity, prevents arbitrary interpretation and ensures consistent implementation of the law," the senior IAS officer said.

He said the latest SOP is religion-neutral and festival-neutral, with no discrimination between festivals or communities. The order does not prohibit bhandaras, prasad or community food distribution, Ganapati or other religious festivals, and does not interfere with religious rituals or traditions, he said.

Mundhe added that the order does not prevent communities from organising their festivals, regulating how people celebrate, or imposing any new legal requirement specifically on festivals. He said no religious or cultural activity is being prohibited by the order.

"It is a uniform, year-round SOP for implementing the existing food-safety framework, applicable without discrimination to all communities, all festivals and all food-service activities. The objective is not to restrict celebration but to prevent illness. Let festivals be celebrated with faith, joy and tradition and let the food served during the festivities be safe," Mundhe said.

In effect, the FDA has said the directive is a year-round measure to enforce existing food-safety rules uniformly and ensure safe food at festivals and public gatherings, without affecting celebrations or religious practices.