{
  "id": 5913931,
  "title": "Festival Special: Inside Maharashtra FDA chief Tukaram Mundhe's first-of-a-kind plan to curb food adulteration",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/festival-special-inside-maharashtra-fda-chief-tukaram-mundhes-first",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-06T05:02:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Mint",
    "slug": "live-mint",
    "url": "https://www.livemint.com/news/india/festival-special-inside-maharashtra-fda-chief-tukaram-munde-s-first-of-a-kind-plan-to-curb-food-adulteration-11788669246759.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, Tukaram Mundhe, has unveiled a groundbreaking four-phase plan to tackle food adulteration during the upcoming religious and cultural festivals in India. The new standing order aims to standardize enforcement across all regions and celebrations, eliminating the need for individual festival-specific regulations. This comprehensive initiative will focus on high-risk foods such as sweets, paneer, ghee, dry fruits, mutton, and chicken, which are in high demand during the festivities and are more likely to be adulterated or unsafe.\n\nThe Maharashtra FDA Commissioner outlined a calendar that categorizes festivals into four risk levels, with Ganeshotsav, Navratri, Diwali, Eid, Christmas, and New Year's Eve deemed high-risk. Surveillance efforts will be implemented in four phases, targeting inspections of meat, bakery items, ice, and packaged drinking water during high-risk events like Eid, Ramadan, and Christmas. Targeted raids may also be conducted to curb illegal chemical ripening of fruits during Akshaya Tritiya.\n\nAdditionally, the FDA Commissioner emphasized that mass distribution events, such as 'bhandaras' and 'langars,' will be monitored to ensure compliance with food security laws. The new order represents the first of its kind in India, setting definitions for all aspects of the enforcement framework to prevent any untoward incidents during the festivities and apply uniformly to all religions and geographies.",
  "summary": "Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe spoke about a four-phase plan that will include inspection of bakeries, monitoring of 'bhandaras' and targeted raids. He said, “…a complete calendar has been prepared for the year.”",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Hindustan Times",
        "title": "‘If there’s a will, there's a way': FSSAI CEO praises Maharashtra FDA's Tukaram Mundhe",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/if-theres-a-will-theres-a-way-fssai-ceo-praises-maharashtra-fdas",
        "published": "2026-09-02T09:40:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Live Mint",
        "title": "Tukaram Mundhe's FDA action: Maggi, Lay’s, Kurkure packs found with fake expiry dates in Mumbai were meant for export",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/tukaram-mundhes-fda-action-maggi-lays-kurkure-packs-found-with-fake",
        "published": "2026-09-02T11:14:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express",
        "title": "Tukaram Mundhe crackdown | Who will FDA target next? Maharashtra food safety body rolls out calendar for festivals",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/tukaram-mundhe-crackdown-who-will-fda-target-next-maharashtra-food",
        "published": "2026-09-04T03:00:58.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Hindu",
        "title": "FDA awaits replies from restaurants at MCA premises: Tukaram Mundhe",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/fda-awaits-replies-from-restaurants-at-mca-premises-tukaram-mundhe",
        "published": "2026-09-06T07:40:43.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}