MUMBAI: Vada pav, samosas, cold drinks, chocolates and ice creams will no longer be allowed to be sold, distributed or advertised inside schools or within a 50-metre radius of school premises in Maharashtra under a new statewide order issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).FDA commissioner Tukaram Munde said school authorities will be held accountable for implementing the ban and warned of action against principals and school managements that fail to comply.“I want to make it clear that excess fat, excess trans fat and excess sugar products, including deeply fried foods, excessive sugar drinks, vada pav, samosa, cold drinks, chocolates and ice cream, such junk foods are strictly not allowed inside schools to be sold, not be distributed freely, advertise and also not in the surrounding (50 metres range). Principal and school management should implement this strictly, and there should also be awareness about it among parents,” he said.The official said action will be taken against the principal and the school management who don’t comply and follow.“We will start inspections across the state soon. FDA along with school management will be happy to take a workshop at district level and taluka level to implement it smoothly,” Munde added.He also spoke about complaints related to the alleged MPSC paper leak.“We received an email from an individual on the 21st. We recorded the person’s statement on the 24th. MPSC is an independent body, and it conducts the Food and Drug Inspector examination. We have forwarded the statement and all the documents we received to the MPSC,” Tukaram Munde said.In a separate incident earlier this month, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the food licences of three eateries in Mumbai after inspections allegedly found serious violations of hygiene and food safety norms.According to the FDA, six inspections were carried out, following which the licences of three food businesses in Bhendi Bazaar and Umarkhadi were suspended for failing to comply with food safety regulations.The FDA said one establishment’s food licence was suspended on July 14 after a re-inspection conducted on July 13 found that 25 major deficiencies identified earlier had not been rectified. The outlet had first been inspected on April 16, following which an improvement notice was issued on April 28.During the re-inspection, officials found wet and slippery kitchen floors, absence of records for raw material procurement, no testing records for drinking water quality, lack of documentation regarding the quality of cooking oil, failure to maintain proper segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, and open windows without insect-proof screens, allowing pest entry.(With inputs from ANI)
