A dinner outing with a friend at a restaurant became an early demonstration of how Maharashtra’s new food safety chief approaches his job. Tukaram Mundhe, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, had only recently taken charge when a friend invited him out for dinner.
At the restaurant, Mundhe noticed that its mandatory food licence was not displayed prominently. He also asked questions about the establishment’s arrangements for drinking water. Then friend ordered a paneer dish. When the paneer arrived, Mundhe examined it more closely and questioned whether the restaurant was serving actual paneer or an analogue product. He then raised several issues with the restaurant’s management, including the compliance concerns he had noticed. But he did not immediately seek punitive action against the establishment. Mundhe took charge of the FDA three months ago. Restaurants, ice cream parlours, dairies and e-commerce facilities have faced action over breaches of hygiene and food-safety requirements.
Instead, he said, the restaurant was given 24 hours to correct the violations. The 2005-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Maharashtra cadre has launched an extensive campaign against food-safety violations across the state.
“I have this habit of wherever I go, I just look around,” Mundhe told NDTV Profit in an exclusive interview. Mundhe told his friend not to eat it.
