Residents of Maharashtra, especially Nagpur, Thane, and Pune, need to be cautious about their sweetmeat purchases this Diwali. The state FDA  has seized a significant amount of adulterated ingredients, including mawa, ghee and dry fruits, from these regions. Of the total 24 lakh kg of adulterated ingredients seized since August, Nagpur leads with 22.68 lakh kg of substandard ingredients followed by Thane, from where officials seized around 72.4 kg of ingredients. Pune ranks third with a 31 kg seizure of goods.

The FDA says it has begun the festive season drive, which will end in December, to curb the use of adulterated food items. “The special drive is conducted every year to ensure that no substandard or adulterated items are used in sweets and other edible items,” FDA Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar said. The FDA conducts random testing of products or acts on tip-offs to seize these adulterated items. In the ongoing seizure, the department collected 194 samples, inspected 129 samples and seized 8,654 kg of adulterated items from Mumbai. “I urge citizens to buy products that are branded or in sealed packages to avoid adulterated items which may be hazardous to health,” the commissioner added.