Ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Maharashtra, the state food safety regulator has put Mumbai Ganesh mandals preparing and serving mahaprasad under the scanner to ensure compliance, making documentation and food-safety checks mandatory for all, including those run by smaller communities.

Tukaram Mundhe-led Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told representatives of public Ganesh mandals that organisers serving prasad, mahaprasad, annadaan or bhandara will have to maintain records of the ingredients they use to make the prasad and ensure food safety rules are followed.

No one will be spared, and the new requirements are likely to bring 12,000 public Ganesh mandals in Mumbai under the FDA’s scanner.

The FDA requirements for Ganesh mandals came just ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, when large quantities of food are prepared and distributed among the public.

Under the FDA framework, details of such collective food distribution programmes have to be submitted to the department in advance. The caterers are required to source ingredients only from authorised food businesses, and organisers are expected to retain purchase bills and other records that establish the source of raw materials.

What can come under FDA scrutiny?

For mandals, hygiene, handling, and traceability of ingredients are the primary focus. Milk and milk products, sweets, edible oil, food colours, dry fruits, besan, water and ice are among the products that can come under scrutiny during the festival.

At the GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti, Ram Mandir, Wadala, Chairman Anant Pai said the mandal would be more stringent about hygiene and cleanliness this year.

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“We are already prepared and following all the norms. From hygiene and cleanliness to food serving, we are being extra cautious,” Pai said.

The mandal sources perishable products, including milk products, from vendors it considers reliable and maintains records of purchases, he said. If required, the records can be produced for FDA inspection and the ingredients made available for testing.

“There is some additional responsibility, no doubt, but I feel it is our responsibility. The FDA is doing certain things in the interest of the common people, and we respect the decision,” Pai said.

Ganeshotsav has been classified as a Level-1 festival under the Festival Enforcement Calendar, with enforcement activity beginning 21 days before the festival. The framework is part of a year-round system introduced by the FDA rather than a separate food-safety law for Ganeshotsav.