The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration seized 34,481 kg of edible oil valued at approximately Rs 58.90 lakh from eight establishments across Pune district during a food-safety operation conducted on October 9. The seized stock included oil suspected to be substandard or unsafe, as well as products with labelling deficiencies.
The operation covered edible-oil manufacturers and sellers in Baramati, Chakan, Ale in Junnar taluka, Jambe in Mulshi taluka, Pune Camp, Gultekdi, Shukrawar Peth and Dehu. The oils included soybean, palmolein, groundnut, rice bran and sunflower varieties.
The establishments named in the action were Sant Tukaram Oil Mill in Dehu, Laxmi Enterprises in Ale, Prakash Traders in Gultekdi, Sameer Enterprises in the Baramati MIDC area, Meera Agro Oil Industries in Ambethan, Chakan, Sanch Farm Private Limited at Ramchandra Krupa Industries in Jambe, Garden Vadapav and Ramkrishna Oil Mills in Shukrawar Peth.
Sant Tukaram Oil Mill accounted for 12,518 kg of seized oil, valued at Rs 19.38 lakh, while Laxmi Enterprises had 12,434 kg in stock. Prakash Traders had 3,176 kg, Sameer Enterprises 2,753 kg valued at Rs 5.34 lakh, Meera Agro Oil Industries 2,142 kg valued at Rs 3.21 lakh, and Sanch Farm 880 kg valued at Rs 3.99 lakh.
The FDA also seized 358 kg of groundnut oil from Garden Vadapav, valued at Rs 71,918, and 218 kg from Ramkrishna Oil Mills, valued at Rs 84,000. The department said samples from the seized stock would be sent to a laboratory for examination. Further legal action will follow after the laboratory reports are received.
During inspections, officials found several operational and record-keeping deficiencies. These included non-functional laboratories at some establishments, the absence of chemists, reuse of containers, a single pipeline serving both the inside and outside of oil tanks, and shortcomings in labelling and production records. At some locations, stock registers and batch-wise analysis records were also unavailable.
The inspection comes during the festival season, when demand for edible oil and prepared food typically rises. The FDA said the action was intended to help ensure that consumers receive safe and good-quality edible oil. The seizure, however, does not by itself establish that all the oil was unsafe; the final determination will depend on laboratory testing and the subsequent legal process.
Citizens can report concerns about food quality or suspected violations to the Maharashtra FDA’s toll-free number, 18002222365, or through the department’s complaints website at complaints.mahafda.in. The next formal step in the cases is the laboratory examination of the seized samples and action based on those findings.
