Maharashtra FDA warns no one spared in celebrity ad probe

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said the agency will not spare anyone found violating food safety regulations, after issuing show-cause notices to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over a Vimal Elaichi advertisement. The FDA alleges the campaign is a surrogate promotion of prohibited pan masala or tobacco products. "Everybody across the chain is responsible. It applies to all. Nobody is going to be spared," Mundhe told PTI.

The notices, issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, ask the actors to immediately stop participating in the ad and remove related content from social media. Mundhe said the company had been found selling gutkha earlier, and a prohibition on gutkha and pan masala has been in place in Maharashtra since 2012. The FDA is also considering invoking organised crime law provisions. The regulation on misleading advertisements and claims has been in force since July 1, 2019.

Separately, the Maharashtra FDA suspended licences of Parle Agro and several facilities linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart after inspections found expired stock and hygiene violations. It inspected 86 establishments on August 13, issuing 60 improvement notices and ordering one temporary closure.