Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said the sale of loose edible oil has been banned in the country since 2011, and the action taken by his department to implement the rule was not aimed at any particular community.
An FDA statement on Tuesday making it clear that the ban has been in force for several years was withdrawn because the department was waiting for the state government’s new guidelines, he said.
The action against the sale of loose oil was aimed at preventing adulteration, Mundhe said at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme organised by the Mumbai Press Club, noting that there had been a case in Maharashtra in the past where arsenic had been found in a sample.
Earlier on Monday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the FDA will be asked to frame standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent adulteration in edible oil without crippling the business of traditional oil traders and small retailers.
Mundhe said the ban was not a recent order issued by him, but a requirement under regulations that came into force in 2011.
Asked about the reasons behind the withdrawal of the FDA release issued on Tuesday, he said, “Some more guidelines are coming from the state government. We are waiting for them. Hence we took back our notice. Once the guidelines are made public, we will modify our order.
“This is not some new directive that I am issuing. It has existed as part of the regulations since 2011,” the high-profile FDA Commissioner said.
The death of 40 or 50 persons due to adulterated edible oil in 1998 led to restrictions, and the 2011 Act banned the sale of loose oil, according to Mundhe.
The regulations allowed states to extend an exemption for sale of loose edible oil for up to six months. Such an exemption granted by the Maharashtra government expired in 2020, he said.
“So, in Maharashtra, across India, loose oil is not allowed since 2011,” he said.
The issue had also been discussed at the Central Advisory Committee level between 2018 and 2021-22, Mundhe said.
“This matter was discussed in the span of three-four years, and it was clearly stated that all states must ensure that loose oil is not sold,” he said.
During one of the committee meetings, a specific reference was made to Maharashtra when arsenic had been found in samples of edible oil, Mundhe said.
“This is the background against which we are working,” he said.
The action was not directed at any community, he stressed.
Consumers who can not afford larger quantities can buy smaller pouches, the FDA commissioner said, pointing out that edible oil is available in packs of 100 ml and 200 ml too.
“The objective is that adulteration has to be prevented,” he said.
The FDA and other wings of the government were “clearly on the same page” on the issue, the IAS officer said, referring to Chief Minister Fadnavis’s statement that there could be no compromise on adulteration and food safety.
Speaking on the issue during a meeting of the state Cabinet on Monday, Fadnavis had said that the state government was seeking a “middle path” to balance strict quality enforcement and the livelihoods of traditional oil vendors.
“We will find a middle path and prepare SOPs so that there is no adulteration in oil, and traditional businesses do not have to be shut down,” he had said.
PTI
