Maharashtra Tightens Rules on Loose Edible Oil Sales, Tukaram Mundhe Urges People to Buy Sealed Oil
Mumbai: Maharashtra has tightened regulations around the sale of edible oil across the state, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) introducing stricter compliance measures aimed at protecting consumers from adulteration and unsafe food products. Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has urged people not to purchase loose or unsealed edible oil. According to the advisory, consumers should prefer properly packaged and sealed edible oil, as loose oil can make it difficult to verify its source, quality, batch details and other important information.
Why Has Maharashtra Taken Action Against Loose Edible Oil?
Edible oil is a daily-use food product, making its quality an important food-safety concern. Loose oil may be more vulnerable to contamination, improper storage and adulteration. Since it is not sold in its original sealed packaging, tracing its source can also become difficult if a quality or safety issue is discovered.
The FDA’s latest action is therefore focused on ensuring that edible oil reaches consumers in properly sealed and labelled packaging.
Which Edible Oils Are Covered?
The directions cover several commonly used edible oils, including groundnut, mustard, sunflower, rice bran, palm, coconut and maize oil.
The compliance requirements extend beyond retail shops. They cover oil manufacturers, solvent extraction units, blenders, packaging and repackaging units, importers, supermarkets, wholesalers, retailers and e-commerce platforms.
What Should Consumers Check Before Buying Edible Oil?
Tukaram Mundhe has advised consumers to be more careful while purchasing cooking oil. Instead of buying oil from open containers, consumers should choose sealed products with proper labels.
Before purchasing, consumers should check:
- Whether the package is properly sealed
- Manufacturing and expiry dates
- Batch or lot information
- Product and manufacturer details
- Whether the label contains the required information
- Whether the packaging appears damaged or tampered with
The objective is to make it easier for consumers to identify the product and for authorities to trace it if any food-safety problem occurs.
Action Against Reused Cooking Oil
The state’s food-safety measures also focus on the repeated use of cooking oil, particularly in commercial establishments.
According to the reported guidelines, when Total Polar Compounds (TPC) in frying oil exceed the prescribed 25% limit, the oil should not continue to be used for cooking. Such used oil is required to be collected and disposed of through authorised channels.
Repeatedly heating the same cooking oil can affect its quality, which is why monitoring used frying oil is also an important part of food-safety enforcement.
Strict Action for Violations
The FDA has indicated that businesses failing to comply with food-safety and labelling requirements may face legal action under applicable food-safety laws.
The reported data also highlights why authorities are increasing scrutiny. During the past year, Maharashtra’s FDA reportedly tested 1,247 edible-oil samples. Of these, 77 were found to be non-compliant with standards, while 13 were classified as unsafe and 15 had labelling-related issues.
These findings have added to concerns about maintaining the quality and traceability of edible oil sold to consumers.
What This Means for Consumers
For consumers in Maharashtra, the message is straightforward: avoid buying loose or unsealed edible oil and choose properly packaged products instead.
The move is intended to reduce the possibility of adulteration, improve traceability and strengthen food-safety standards across the edible-oil supply chain.
With the FDA stepping up enforcement, both businesses and consumers will need to pay closer attention to how edible oil is packaged, labelled, stored and sold.
The key takeaway: When buying cooking oil, don’t look only at the price or type of oil. Check the seal, label, manufacturing details and expiry date before making a purchase.