After operating with an alarmingly low number of food safety officers for nearly a year, Mumbai’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to make a major move to bridge its staffing gap. At least 40 new Food Safety Officers (FSOs) are expected to be appointed by June 7, in a significant step to tackle a city-wide manpower crisis that has hampered inspections, enforcement, and public health monitoring.
Until now, only five FSOs were actively working across the city, drastically limiting the FDA’s ability to conduct routine inspections and sampling. A similar situation plagues the drug department, which has just five field officers and may take another year to reach its sanctioned strength of 25 to 30.
“Food safety officers are the field workers who conduct sampling and routine inspections. Without adequate numbers, essential tasks like testing for milk adulteration or checking ice quality can’t happen at the scale required,” explained Mangesh Mane, joint commissioner (Food). While the appointment process is underway, he added that training will take an additional one to two months, with officers expected to begin active duty by October.
Severe Shortfall in FDA Staffing
FDA Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar revealed that of the 350 sanctioned posts in the food division, only 132 are currently filled — leaving a gap of 218 officers. Following repeated proposals to the state government and the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), 194 food safety officers and 8 assistant commissioners have now been selected. This brings the total strength to just over 300 officers.
However, according to national food safety norms — one officer per 1,000 food business operators — Maharashtra should ideally have at least 1,100 FSOs. The shortfall is even more pronounced in the drug department, which has 200 sanctioned posts but only 48 filled. A revised recruitment proposal has been submitted to the MPSC, but it could take up to a year for new appointments.
👉 Internal Auditor training program – Food safety management system ISO 22000:2018
Impact on Public Health and Safety
The staffing crisis has had a direct impact on ground-level inspections. For instance, following recent enforcement action against a Zepto facility in Dharavi, officials admitted they lacked the manpower to inspect similar warehouse operations of other delivery platforms.
“Random sampling at retail stores and distributor levels simply isn’t happening at the scale required,” warned Abhay Pandey, president of the All Food and Drug Licence Holders Foundation. “Without consistent checks, there’s no effective way to ensure quality control — and that poses serious risks to public health.”
Despite the odds, officers are doing their best to cope. “We are meeting our targets by working extra hours. Leaves are being sacrificed, but we’re trying not to let it affect our functioning,” said an official from the drug department.
Still, as Narvekar pointed out, while there’s no significant issue in issuing manufacturing licenses, the real concern lies in monitoring the retail and wholesale levels — a crucial layer in food and drug safety enforcement.
With appointments set to begin this week and full deployment by October, the city’s FDA may finally be on the path to regaining its regulatory grip. But for now, the shortfall continues to challenge the system’s ability to protect public health at scale.
📢 Be Aware, We never charge any consultancy fee for jobs.
📲 Foodtech Network WhatsApp Jobs Group
Click to join WhatsApp group
👥Free Membership (For Jobs, Internship and Training)
Membership registration
⚙️ Food Entrepreneurs & Startups (For business owners)
Our services (Free and Paid)
📱 Food safety training and certification.
Download our App, Foodtech Network
