After Tukaram Mundhe’s loose oil crackdown, a Devendra Fadnavis intervention

Days after a Maharashtra food safety body clampdown on the sale of unpackaged edible oil prompted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to step in and review the order, the Maharashtra government has given small traders and vendors a one-year breather from enforcement of the ban under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011.

Devendra Fadnavis announced the temporary exemption on Tuesday after meeting a delegation of oil traders who had raised concerns over the impact of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) action. The FDA, headed by Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, has been cracking down on food adulteration, with the latest order prohibiting the sale of loose edible oil.

The action affected small vendors and low-income consumers who buy oil in small quantities. Fadnavis said the one-year period would allow traders to shift to the required packaging and safety standards. "While the safety law was enacted in 2011 and maintaining oil quality standards remains our highest priority, we must acknowledge that many low-income families still rely on buying loose oil daily," he said.

A joint committee comprising FDA officials and representatives of the trading community will now examine the operational difficulties faced by traditional vendors and draw a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the transition.

Fadnavis, however, made it clear that the exemption would not be extended beyond one year and asked traders to use the period to bring their operations in line with the law. The government’s move comes after the FDA crackdown triggered concerns among traders over compliance and the immediate impact on their businesses.

The FDA’s August 20 order had sought to eliminate the risks associated with loose oil by mandating sealed packaging with details including the source and expiry date. The action followed inspections that flagged adulteration, use of non-food-grade containers, relabelling and other violations.

The order banned the sale of loose or unpackaged edible oil, making sealed, tamper-evident and properly labelled packaging mandatory across the supply chain. The move was aimed at tackling adulteration and traceability gaps, with the regulator flagging the absence of details such as the source, batch number and packaging date in loose oil.