{
  "id": 1696625,
  "title": "Food safety body chief Mundhe gets Fadnavis’ backing; crackdown to continue?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/food-safety-body-chief-mundhe-gets-fadnavis-backing-crackdown-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T11:16:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/maharashtra-food-safety-fda-tukaram-mundhe-fadnavis-10838721/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has wholeheartedly endorsed the aggressive food safety crackdown spearheaded by state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Tukaram Mundhe. Fadnavis asserted, \"I think very good action is being taken. Food adulteration is dangerous as it relates to health and poses a threat to the lives of people.\" He emphasized that any tampering with the quality of food is intolerable, necessitating the strictest action against offenders. Fadnavis reiterated that the crackdown against those involved in food adulteration will persist in Maharashtra.\n\nThe Maharashtra FDA has come under intense scrutiny from the Bombay High Court, which has repeatedly criticized its enforcement actions as excessively harsh and labeled them \"strange policies.\" In the past month alone, Tukaram Mundhe has conducted raids, suspending licenses of several well-known restaurants and hotels in the state. Recently, the FDA issued a notice to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Tiger Shroff for promoting Vimal Elaichi.\n\nBMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide commended the FDA's rigorous actions during a recent interaction. She stated, \"What the FDA is doing is appreciable not only because they are doing their job right but also creating awareness about safe food and the discipline we need. The FDA is creating a window wherein the people also become demanding and probably the system improves. The only challenge with such initiatives is their sustainability. For that, we need systemic changes.\"",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}