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FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani praised Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe for his food safety crackdown, saying, “if there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has received praise from FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani for his food safety enforcement drive. (IMAGE: PTI)
The new nemesis of food safety violators, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, who has conducted thousands of inspections in recent months, has won the endorsement of the country’s top food regulator.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO, Rajit Punhani, in a conversation with broadcaster India Today, praised Mundhe’s enforcement drive and said he had achieved the feat with the same team.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way. You know, he has done it with the same team. It’s not that more food safety officers have been recruited,” Punhani said, pointing to Mundhe’s efforts in Maharashtra.
Mundhe, who attended a Storyboard18 event on Wednesday, provided some context to the inspection figures and explained how his department decides when to suspend licences.
“We had inspected around 3,100 in the food sector, and out of which, I think, 160-odd licences were suspended. More than 700-odd were given improvement notices,” Mundhe said, adding that establishments with less serious violations were warned to improve.
He also rejected the perception that his teams routinely seal or shut down establishments during inspections.
“We are not here to close down or suspend every licensee or registered FBO. We are here to ensure food is safe, food is not substandard, it is not misbranded, and it is good for consumption by human beings,” Mundhe said.
Mundhe said licence suspensions were based on the severity of violations and whether they posed a risk to public health. Where unsafe food posed an immediate concern, action could be taken immediately, while less serious violations could result in improvement notices.
Mundhe On Why Food Safety Matters
Mundhe also spoke about the need for greater awareness of what people consume, arguing that people often pay close attention to their appearance while giving less thought to the nutritional quality of their food.
“Do we even know what kind of protein, what kind of carbs we are consuming?” he asked, stressing that people should understand whether the food they eat is actually required by their body and mind.
He said this awareness was particularly important because food safety was not merely about restaurants or inspections, but also about consumers understanding what they put into their bodies.
‘I Am More Vigilant About Where To Eat’
Mundhe also admitted that his own approach to eating out had changed since taking charge of food safety enforcement.
“Nowadays, I have stopped going out because there are a lot of safety issues if I go there,” he said when asked whether his family now thinks twice before visiting restaurants.
Mundhe added that he was now more conscious about where he ate, saying his work had made him more vigilant than an ordinary consumer.
“I am a little bit more aware than others because I am a safety officer. So I know more things than common people would know. So yes, we are much more vigilant about it,” he said.
Quick Answers
Ask News18While the primary source does not state whether Tukaram Mundhe’s approach will be adopted nationwide, his food safety crackdown has already sparked a national wave of copycat enforcement drives. Several other states, including Karnataka, Telangana, and Delhi, have followed Maharashtra’s lead by intensifying their own food safety raids and inspections.
Ask News18About the Author
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a chief sub editor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over seven years of experience during which he has …Read More
September 02, 2026, 8:03 PM IST
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