Maharashtra Suspends 105 Food Licenses in Diwali Safety Drive Across the State

Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration suspended 105 food business licenses across the state during a special Diwali enforcement drive held on November 4 and 5, the department said, with 28 of the suspensions issued in Mumbai. The action, reported on November 7, covered restaurants, sweet shops, caterers, retail outlets and facilities run by quick-commerce companies, and came after inspections found violations of food safety rules.

What Inspectors Found

Officials cited dirty floors, soot-covered walls, damaged ceilings and food stored directly on unclean surfaces at some premises. Inspections also found a lack of window mesh to keep out pests, no temperature-control records, and food handlers without medical fitness certificates. The department said the checks covered hygiene, food storage, manufacturing practices, licensing norms and missing medical and training records.

Seven outlets were ordered to shut, including three in Pune, two in Amravati and one each in Mumbai and the Konkan region. In Mumbai, suspended licenses included those linked to Zepto's Worli facility and Blink Commerce Private Limited, which operates Blinkit. Eateries including Tossin Pizza in Worli, Biryani By Kilo, Jumbo Burger, Theram Restaurant, Shifu Express and Maratha Kitchen were also named.

Among hotels and restaurants, the department named Hotel Annapurna, Hotel Sai Pooja, Nityanand Bhuvan Hindu Hotel and Hotel Gurudev Bar and Restaurant. Sweet shops and snack businesses in Nagpada, Vile Parle, Versova and Bhandup were also covered, including Tahoora Sweets and Bakery, Jamnagari Sweets and Farsan, Mahiyar Sweet and Snacks and Samrat Sweets.

Seizures and Warnings

Suspected unsafe or adulterated food stock worth over Rs 1.35 crore was seized from more than 69 establishments during the drive. In Mumbai, officials seized 2,396.6 kilograms of material from sweet shops, valued at Rs 13.87 lakh, according to the reports. Forty-four kilos of boondi laddus and kalakand from Jamnagari Sweets and Farsan in Vile Parle were confiscated over alleged excess use of food coloring. Rajdhani Biryani Centre in Borivali was ordered to shut completely.

FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe warned that businesses risking public health will face strict action, citing provisions that include life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh for selling unsafe food that causes death. In Nagpur, a D-Mart outlet on Kamthi Road faced action, with refined soybean oil seized for breaching license conditions. The department said the violations were found despite a clear warning to sweet vendors and manufacturers to follow the rules before the festival.

What It Means for Food Service Workers

The crackdown puts routine food safety inspections at the center of daily operations for restaurants, caterers and delivery kitchens, and it reaches beyond conventional dining rooms into quick-commerce sites that handle food and groceries in dense urban neighborhoods. For workers, it sharpens the requirement to hold valid medical fitness certificates and to maintain temperature logs and cleaning records that inspectors now check.

Managers at casual dining venues and smaller neighborhood outlets face the same standards, since the drive covered organized chains and independent businesses alike. Training records for food handlers and documented storage practices are likely to draw closer scrutiny in the months ahead, along with pest control and the condition of kitchens and storage areas.

What to watch next is whether the department publishes follow-up inspections of the suspended premises and how quickly outlets apply to reopen. The scale of the drive, with 105 licenses suspended and seven closures ordered in two days, suggests the state intends to keep enforcement active beyond the festival period, and other divisions may see similar campaigns.