FDA chief Tukaram Mundhe’s next target – your supplement pills

Nutraceuticals are next. After cracking down on analogue paneer, adulterated milk, edible oil and unhygienic restaurants, Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to serve an order on supplements. Speaking at an Idea Exchange at The Indian Express’ Mumbai office on Friday, FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe called the department’s findings on nutraceuticals so far “disturbing”.

“These are consumed without any prescription. Products claim to contain an ingredient that is not actually there. There are many ill effects, the claims are misleading, and consumption is not as it should be,” he said.

Asked whether the FDA would look only at labelling or test contents too, he said the order would cover all of it: “Everything: content, consumption, prescription, selling.”

India’s dietary supplements market was worth Rs 20,146 crore in 2025 and is projected to reach Rs 57,262 crore by 2034, growing at about 12 per cent a year, according to market research firm IMARC.

The nutraceuticals order will follow the FDA’s order on food in schools and its more recent order on infant food. Mundhe described the sequence as deliberate, covering one age group at a time.

“We have to focus on younger ages, because food habits form at the beginning,” he said. He added that the infant food order, which includes infant milk substitutes, covers children up to two, while the ban on foods high in fat, salt and sugar in schools and within 50 metres of them covers those aged 2 to 18.

“Next, nutraceuticals will cover the younger generation. This way the complete picture is available to people, to food business operators and licensees, and it is clear to my officers how to proceed, so the impact is larger and better,” he said.

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Four months into the job, Mundhe has turned up in memes and newspaper columns. He rejects the “national hero” label. “I am very clear that I am neither a hero nor a national hero,” he said. “I am a public servant, so I always expect public scrutiny.”

The attention, he said, is about the subject, not the officer. “An issue touching everybody’s plate, heart and health will be discussed. If you don’t act, it will be discussed; if you act, it will be discussed.”

He expected the backlash to the FDA’s festival order, including the charge that it was “touching our festivals”. “I am not touching your festivals. I am touching food, which is my jurisdiction,” he said, calling the order “religion-neutral, culture-neutral”. During Ganpati, the FDA seized about 6.3 lakh kg of suspect food worth about Rs 9.76 crore.

Restaurateurs have called the FDA’s practice of releasing photos and videos of its raids defamation. Mundhe said that without them, there would be allegations of a cover-up. “My purpose is not to paint anybody black or white. It is to let people know what is happening.”

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The bigger task, he said, is changing the culture. The Food Safety and Standards Act, in force since 2011, was meant to shift the focus from preventing adulteration to standards and safety. Mundhe said that shift has yet to reach the ground. “It is not just a change of nomenclature; it is a total cultural shift in governance.”

Does he see himself completing this tenure?
Mundhe has been transferred about 25 times in 21 years, and he says this post is no more special than any other. “Every position is special, because whatever role I am assigned I have to do justice to it.”

Asked whether he has the government’s backing this time and expects to complete his tenure, he said he has had no assurance about how long he will stay. “No government says you are here for two months or three years,” he said. “We never discuss how many days I will be here. I haven’t asked, and nobody has told me.”

He tries not to think about postings at all. “If I keep thinking about postings, I will only think about postings.”

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In a letter dated September 27, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that FDA officials were threatening hotels, restaurants and quick-commerce firms with licence suspensions to extort money. Mundhe said he would act if he were given specifics. “Give me the details and I will investigate. I am serious about it,” he said. “If I am to initiate action, I should know who did what. Without that I am building castles in the air.”

He said no formal complaint has reached his desk yet. He has made an open appeal to anyone asked for money by his officers to come to him directly, and he raises the subject in his own review meetings, telling officers which rumours he is hearing and which facts he has found.

“And I warn them: If you are inclined that way, think a hundred times, because the moment I catch you, be sure your career will be ruined.”