Mumbai’s food watchdog just made it easier to report dodgy dairy

Maharashtra residents can now report suspected food safety violations through an AI-based grievance portal, complaints.mahafda.in, the state’s Food and Drug Administration said, as it pushes through a wide crackdown on substandard dairy products. The timing lines up with one of its biggest actions yet: the license suspension of Parsi Dairy Farm, a Marine Lines dairy that has operated since 1916.
The FDA suspended Parsi Dairy Farm’s license after an inspection found no dedicated raw milk reception dock, fungal growth on the walls, raw materials stored directly on the floor, and pest and rodent infestation. A spokesperson for the dairy told TOI, ‘The company is in the process of complying with certain procedural technical observations of the FSSAI.’ The suspension follows similar action against ice-cream parlour K Rustom and the Shalimar and Noor Mohammadi restaurants.
Statewide, the FDA says it has seized 2,317 litres of milk, 30 litres of refined edible oil used for adulteration, and 6,849.25kg of dairy products, worth more than Rs 45 lakh combined. In Mumbai, two vendors were caught tampering with milk pouches, leading to the seizure and destruction of 822 pouches (558 litres) worth Rs 39,503; the Kandivali Crime Branch assisted, and an FIR names vendors Krishna Lingampalli and Ravi Patikaka.
In Govandi, Sufi Dairy was found storing 1,683 litres of loose pasteurized buffalo milk in steel tanks and plastic bags instead of sealed, tamper-evident packaging, resulting in the seizure of stock worth over Rs 1 lakh. In Mulund, Agarwal Enterprises had 61.25kg of products, including diced cheese blend, barfi and loose paneer worth Rs 19,759, seized for missing batch numbers and expiry dates, with officials suspecting the paneer was actually a cheese analogue; samples are now being tested in a lab.
In a separate action tied to the same enforcement push, the state’s drugs department seized Rs 10.94 lakh worth of unlabelled toilet soap from JK Soap Bazar in Jogeshwari, for lacking mandatory manufacturing and safety details on its packaging.
[Wikimedia Commons/by Sameertamoreraghunath]