No junk food sale allowed in school canteens, shops nearby: Big FDA action in Maharashtra

The revelation comes after the FDA shut down prominent bakeries and clubs across Mumbai for violating hygiene norms or operating without a valid license.

After clamping down on restaurants and bakeries, including some of the city’s most coveted ones, for lapses in hygiene and quality of raw ingredients in storage, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now trained its guns on school canteens and shops selling deep fried and unhealthy foods around schools, adhering to the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Foods and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations, 2020.

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe revealed the body's decision to target junk food sales in and near schools during a press conference in BKC on Wednesday. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

At a press conference held at the FDA office in BKC on Wednesday, commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said that the regulatory body will crack down on shops within 50-meter radius of schools that are found selling, distributing, or advertising HFSS (high fat, sugar, and salt) foods. This includes junk food like chips, cakes, samosas and vada pavs, which contain high levels of saturated and trans fats, as well as energy drinks that are harmful to children under 18.

FDA commissioner's push for healthy food

Mundhe also directed managements from across 108,000 schools across Maharashtra to ensure that the over two crore school children have access only to healthy food from its canteens or face action. It also falls upon the managements to single out tuck shops outside their schools selling unhealthy food and report them to the FDA.

The commissioner said, should the schools fail in the twin objectives, they could face de-affiliation from the education boards, underscoring that both central and state boards have such provisions. “If schools fail to comply, we will report them to the respective boards,” Mundhe said, adding that the provisions, scientifically thought through for the physical, mental and psychological well-being of the children, have been in existence since 2020.

The action will also be applicable to all the schools that run mid-day meal schemes under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana.

FDA to take action on junk food sales in 50-metre radius of schools. (HT)

‘Eat Right India’ campaign

As part of the ‘Safe food, healthy childhood, empowered Maharashtra’ campaign, FDA has already trained 4,919 teachers in 3,567 schools across the state, said Mundhe, so that they can impart a healthy food culture among children. This is part of the ‘Eat Right India’ campaign launched by the FSSAI in 2017.

Going forward, schools will have to nominate health and wellness ambassadors – they could be select teachers – who will also serve as nodal officers on food regulations, and conduct awareness campaigns on food. Warnings on what constitutes unhealthy food should be writ large at each school’s entrance, said the commissioner. Schools will have to conduct four food safety awareness campaigns every year by promoting safe and balanced diets, adhering to the dietary guidelines of the National Institute of Nutrition.

Reacting to FDA’s latest rollout, secretary of the Archdiocese Board of Education, Rev Fr Thomson Kinny said, “Street vendors are not under the control of schools. So, asking the management to police the area is unreasonable.”