Response highlights Puneites’ growing participation in holding eateries accountable: FDA Joint Commissioner

Of the total complaints, at least 70 have been resolved while 99 are currently under process.

3 min readPuneUpdated: Jul 27, 2026 09:44 AM IST

Food Safety Officer with FDA at an inspection.

Puneites have emerged as the most active watchdogs on food safety issues, registering the highest number of grievances on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) complaint portal. Since the portal was launched in mid-July to encourage citizens to flag their concerns, the FDA Pune division has received 445 complaints .

According to D V Bhogawade, Joint Commissioner, FDA, Pune division, this strong response highlights Puneites’ growing participation in holding food businesses and restaurants accountable. “They are among the most vigilant citizens and prior to the registration of complaints on the portal, there were several grievances related to unhygienic food made on social media,” Bhogawade explained.

Meanwhile, of the total complaints, at least 70 have been resolved while 99 are currently under process. As part of the Safe Food, Safe Drugs, Safe Maharashtra campaign, authorities in Pune division since July 1 till July 23 have carried out as many as 336 inspections to check for adulterated, unsafe and improperly labelled food products.

“At least 30 licenses have been suspended and improvement notices have been issued to 190 eateries,” Bhogawade told The Indian Express. While manpower shortage was a concern previously to immediately act upon grievances, the FDA has now appointed as many as 71 food safety officers for Pune division (including Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur). In Pune district there are 38 food safety officers.

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While complaints are often related to food quality and hygiene standards at restaurants, consumers also report issues such as the sale of products beyond their expiry dates. Initially inspections are conducted by food safety officers and if there are major irregularities then samples of the products are sent for further investigations.

Extra pressure on public health lab

Pune has yet to set up its own FDA laboratory and samples seized during inspections are sent to the state public health laboratory. Top sources confirmed that the increased workload due to intensified food safety drives and inspections has placed additional pressure on the laboratory team. At times this has resulted in delays in completing and submitting reports following the completion of investigations.

The public health laboratory has a testing capacity of upto 1,000 samples every month. The lab gets samples from government run hospitals, jail and correctional facilities to perform tests and assess food, oil quality and safety and compliance with public health standards. “Of the 1000 samples we have been regularly receiving at least 300 samples from FDA but as part of the safe food campaign there has been an increase in the number of samples,” an official source said. Officials, however, said that they were trying to ensure that reports are not delayed and sent within a fortnight.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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