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Loose edible oil ban to make food safety more visible and accountable
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Monday, 24 August, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Kimberley Almeida, Mumbai
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The recent ban on loose edible oil imposed by the Maharashtra FDA is a vital step for making food safety more visible and accountable and also will encourage the production and consumption of hygienically packaged edible oils, offering consumers safer and more reliable choices, opine industry experts
Ashwin Bhadri, founder & CEO, Equinox Labs, said, “The ban on loose edible oil is an important step towards making food safety more visible and accountable. When oil is sold loose, consumers often have no way of knowing its source, age, storage conditions or whether it has been adulterated. Packaged and properly labelled oil brings traceability into the picture and gives consumers a basic but important right to know what they are consuming. However, regulation works only when it is backed by consistent enforcement and awareness at the retail level. This move should therefore be seen as a push towards greater transparency and consumer protection.”
Ashish Khandelwal, managing director of BL Agro, said, “The ban imposed by the Maharashtra FDA is an important step towards ensuring better hygiene, food safety and consumer protection. Uttar Pradesh had taken a similar step in 2014 by banning the sale of loose edible oil, which played a significant role in encouraging the adoption of branded edible oils that adhere to prescribed food safety and quality standards. The Maharashtra ban will further encourage the production and consumption of hygienically packaged edible oils, offering consumers safer and more reliable choices. It will also create an opportunity for established and emerging brands to introduce a wider range of SKUs at optimal price points, catering to diverse consumer needs while maintaining stringent quality standards.”
Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Food Safety Commissioner and Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration, Maharashtra State, Tukaram Mundhe, has issued a comprehensive statewide compliance and enforcement order for the edible oil and fat sector. This 14-clause order is effective immediately and is not limited to retailers, but is binding across the entire supply chain from oil expeller units to online sellers.
Inspections conducted by the Food and Drugs Administration revealed a widespread and persistent lack of compliance across the edible oil supply chain: Operating without a valid license or under incorrect Kind of Business (KoB) categories; Adulteration of declared oil with cheaper, undeclared oils; Sale of substandard oil exceeding acid value and industrial trans-fat limits; Unauthorized blending of mustard oil; Relabelling to hide the true source and date of the oil; Repackaging near-expiry oil; Use of non-food-grade packaging. Against this backdrop, this order has been issued to establish a uniform and clear compliance framework across the State of Maharashtra.
This order applies to every edible oil and fat—including groundnut, mustard, soybean, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, rice-bran, palm and palmolein, coconut, sesame, maize, multi-sourced edible vegetable oil, and vanaspati—regardless of the establishment's size or turnover.
Tukaram Mundhe said, “Edible oil is not a luxury; it is a daily necessity for every household. The worst impact of malpractices in this sector is borne by ordinary consumers who purchase oil in small quantities. These malpractices are not limited to financial fraud. Argemone contamination has previously caused epidemic dropsy outbreaks resulting in heart failure, glaucoma, and death. Lead leaches into oil from rusted and spot-welded cans, acting as a cumulative toxin that impairs brain development in children. Furthermore, trans-fatty acids and oxidative compounds formed in repeatedly heated oil are linked to atherosclerosis, hypertension, liver and kidney damage, stroke, and an elevated risk of cancer. These health effects do not manifest in a single day—they accumulate over years, making them far more dangerous. Malpractices that play with the health of citizens will not be tolerated in Maharashtra. Honest business operators will find full protection under this order.”
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