Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) commissioner, Tukaram Mundhe, the man behind massive crackdown on food irregularities across the state, has been among the newsmakers for the past few weeks. Mundhe’s efforts to fix the quality of what the public consumes have now been acknowledged and appreciated by FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani.
The remarks from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) chief come at a time when the FDA under Mundhe has launched a massive crackdown on food businesses, hotels, restaurants and warehouses across Maharashtra. “Many officers didn’t want to become food safety commissioners. We would rather be in health. You know, in health you have your doctors, your primary health centre. You have a system, an old system. It’s about maybe a hundred-year-old system,” he was quoted as saying. Mundhe has suspended food permits of four Pizza Hut outlets and has also targeted cricket clubs, hotels and well-known restaurants.
The food regulatory body has already conducted over 3,000 spot checks since May, according to Bloomberg. Because no one paid any attention.
Punhani in an interview said that Mundhe’s actions showed “if there’s a will, there’s a way”, while he dismissed the perception that a posting with the food safety department is a “punishment posting”. He said that food safety departments had historically not been given the importance they deserved. Having a dedicated food safety commissioner in every state should now be considered a necessity, according to Punhani. “Which is must now,” he said when asked whether every state should have a separate food safety commissioner.
Punhani, while speaking to India Today, noted that a posting with the food regulatory departments was often seen as a ‘punishment posting’.
