Mumbai, Sep 24 The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration on Thursday said it has issued a permanent ‘standing order’ for all festivals throughout the year to keep check on unadulterated food and also launched a dedicated online ‘Festival Enforcement Portal’ for its effective, transparent and time-bound implementation.
During festivities, the demand for items such as modak, pedha, khoa, paneer, ghee, milk, curd, edible oil and dry fruits, as well as fasting foods such as bhagar, sabudana and rajgira rises manifold within a short time, the FDA said in a statement.
This increases the risk of adulterated and unsafe food products being brought into the market to take undue advantage of the demand, it said, adding complaints can be registered at https://complaints.mahafda.in.
“Keeping this in mind, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a permanent Standing Order for all festivals throughout the year, and a dedicated online ‘Festival Enforcement Portal’ has been launched for its effective, transparent and time-bound implementation,” the FDA said.
All festivals of the year, from Makar Sankranti to Christmas, are available at a glance on the festival enforcement portal. Festivals are classified as Level-1 (Statewide), Level-2 (Regional) and Level-3 (Local), it said.
Mandals can submit information online on community food distribution such as ‘bhandara’, ‘annachhatra’ and ‘mahaprasad’ online, without visiting the office. The applications received, the officers assigned to them and the status of on-site inspection can be viewed in real time, the FDA said.
Designated officers will be assigned for 90 zones, it added.
The food monitoring body said it received 3,198 applications online on the portal for organising ‘bhandara’, ‘annachhatra’ and ‘mahaprasad’.
Based on risk, Food Safety Officers personally visited and inspected 383 locations. During these visits, the mandals were guided on cooking area, drinking water, quality of raw materials, food storage and the hygiene of food handlers. This risk-based approach made it possible to deploy limited manpower where it was needed most, it said.
A total of 3,068 food establishments were inspected across the state between September 1 to 23, the FDA said.
“Improvement notices were issued to 1,506 establishments where deficiencies were found, while licences of 248 establishments committing serious violations were suspended and 12 licences were cancelled. A total of 455 cases were filed under Section 69 of the Act, of which 398 were disposed of and penalty of Rs 53.60 lakh recovered,” it said.
(PTI News)
