Ban on sale of food items at shops selling tobacco

Ban on areca nut extended; vehicles carrying illegal products to face action

Mumbai: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Maharashtra on Wednesday banned the sale of tobaccoand food items on the same premises. The move follows an advisory issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on September 22, 2017, which said tobacco shopkeepers should stop selling non-tobacco FMCG items like toffee, candy, chips, biscuits, and soft drinks.

“We are the first state to implement the advisory. We drafted a notification, which was approved by the State government. The notification comes into immediate effect,” Pallavi Darade, Commissioner, Maharashtra FDA, said.

The FDA has also extended the ban on ‘scented supari’ (areca nut) by six months. The ban was to come to an end on January 31. In last July, the State had lifted the ban for a few days, but had come in for criticism from health experts.

The food regulator plans to crack down on vehicles transporting banned products. “While products such as gutkha are not manufactured in the state, we have noticed that they are being transported, especially in border areas,” Dr. Darade said. The FDA will work with other State agencies to ensure that licence of drivers and registration of such vehicles are revoked.

The FDA has decided to conduct a drive to dispose of as many cases as possible under the repealed Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1956. Since 2011, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, has been in force.

“We are utilising a lot of resources and hope to resolve the 5,265 cases. The FDA is fighting these cases in lower courts across Maharashtra,” Dr. Darade said.

The Bombay High Court has asked all lower courts to hear matters under the old Act in February. Most of the cases are in the Mumbai–Thane belt and were registered between 1995 and 2011. “Some of the cases are nearly 20 years old,” the FDA chief said.

Milk adulteration

The FDA conducted an inspection drive at milk centres between 10 p.m. on January 20 and 6 a.m. on January 21. The FDA collected 742 milk samples from across the state and have sent them for tests. In Mumbai, 127 milk tankers were checked at five entry points. Of these, two tankers carrying 2,700 litres of milk were not found to be up to the requisite standards and were sent back, and eight samples were sent for further tests.