Gutka, pan masala over Rs 34 lakh, food items worth Rs 1.24 crore seized: FDA

Mumbai: The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sealed 86 pan masala and gutka shops, seizing goods worth over Rs 34 lakh, and has seized 90,639 kg of adulterated and banned food items worth approximately Rs 1.24 crore from other establishments.Of the total seizures, 2,047.4 kg of food stock, valued at Rs 3,19,028, was confiscated from six establishments in Mumbai. On the other hand, 22 gutka shops were sealed in the city with Rs 1,23,951 worth seizure.​According to FDA officials, the seized products were suspected to be of low quality, manufactured under unhygienic conditions, and sold with misleading packaging. The confiscated items across the state included: mangoes, boondi ladoos, khoya, and dairy products (milk, ghee, ice cream/kulfi, and frozen desserts). There were also bakery products like candies, jaggery, peanut chikki, and dates.​Food samples from the seized lot has been sent to laboratories for further analysis.The inspection drive spanned multiple districts across Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Nashik, Jalgaon, Raigad, Dhule, Jalna, Beed, Nanded, Parbhani, Solapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Hingoli, Bhandara, Wardha, Yavatmal, Amravati, Akola, and Washim.