Food stalls, restaurants must have FDA licence

Food stalls, restaurants and even five-star hotels have only three months to register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or get a licence, else their business will be considered illegal. 

Of the around 45 lakh food operators in Maharashtra, only 1.6 lakh possess valid licences or are registered with the FDA.

The FDA has started a special drive to ensure that all food operators with an annual turnover of above Rs12 crore possess a license and those who earn less than Rs12 crore a year get a registration certificate as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

“We are applying Food Safety Management for all food operators in the state to ensure that people get hygienic and healthy food. We have appointed licensee officers and 300 food safety officers in seven regions to take food samples on a regular basis. The officers will then send an annual report to the FDA,” said Mahesh Zagade, FDA commissioner, told the media.

At present, the FDA has only two laboratories in the state and hence it will be difficult to check all the samples there.

“I have sent a Rs800-crore proposal to the government to set up 300 public laboratories and 37 mobile labs,” said Zagade. The FDA has also taken legal action against a few brands for misleading advertisements.