FDA raids dietician’s herb supplier

Famed dietician Anjali Mukherjee seems set for an unhealthy collision course with the the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) after yet anot...

Famed dietician Anjali Mukherjee seems set for an unhealthy collision course with the the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) after yet another raid, this time on one of her herbal suppliers. Following the raid on the Andheri office of her company, Health Total, FDA officials yesterday raided the premises of a major supplier of herbs to Mukherjee’s clinics based at Wada taluka in Thane district, owned by one Panda.

‘‘We are sure to prosecute Anjali Mukherjee, she cannot escape that,’’ warned FDA Commissioner Uttam Khobragade. ‘‘Stocks of raw materials were stored in unhygienic conditions,’’ he said. ‘‘There were rodents around. No proper packaging was done, herbs were being weighed like potatoes and despatched in sacks.’’

Reacting to his claims, Mukherjee said: ‘‘If what was noticed is true, we might stop our association with these suppliers.’’

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On Tuesday, FDA officials seized samples of seven ayurvedic medicines from Mukherjee’s clinic in Andheri. They suspect them to have caused harm to former municipal commissioner K. Nalinakshan, who was taking part in Mukherjee’s weight-loss programme.

‘‘We are waiting for the test results of samples sent to the Drug Control Laboratory,’’ Khobragade said. The results will take about a month, he added. But Nalinakshan, now recovering in hospital, has rejected the FDA’s version of events and says he has not lodged a complaint against Mukherjee.

So far, it’s been business as usual at Mukherjee’s Health Total clinics both in Mumbai and Delhi, despite the adverse publicity of an FDA raid. ‘‘Most of my patients have full faith in our programmes and have affirmed their trust in us,’’ said Mukherjee.