Bipasha Basu calls Tukaram Mundhe ‘our only hope’ after finding worms in protein powder

After Twinkle Khanna and Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu has sent a shoutout to Maharashtra Food and Drug Authority (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. While the first two did so to celebrate the official who’s been taking swift and severe action against adulteration in the state, Bipasha did so to bring his attention towards yet another food safety issue.

Bipasha Basu calls Tukaram Mundhe ‘our only hope’

Bipasha Basu took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday, and shared a video of a protein powder can. The video also had a glass full of water mixed with the protein powder, with worms floating on the surface. She also zoomed in on a worm at the tip of her finger.

“This is full of tiny worms. We’ve opened a new box,” she said in the video. Bipasha tagged Mubndhe on the Story and wrote, “You are our only hope, so we don’t get spoilt or adulterated stuff in everything we purchase (folded hands emoji).”

Before Bipasha Basu, Preity Zinta endorsed Tukaram Mundhe’s work when she showed up at an event in Mumbai, wearing a T-shirt that said, “Team Tukaram Mundhe.”

Twinkle Khanna also wrote a column about Mundhe, where she stated, “Hundreds of restaurants have fallen like dominoes in his wake, including Domino’s. Where Mundhe goes, mundis roll.” Shweta Tiwari also tagged Mundhe and asked, “Where are you?”, after finding a cockroach in her order from quick-commerce delivery platform.

Tukaram Mundhe doesn’t spare Bollywood A-listers

Among those Tukaram Mundhe has taken action against are three prominent Bollywood actors, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff. The FDA issued notices to them, asking them to respond why they chose to participate in surrogate advertising of a pan masala brand.

Mundhe even defended his action of sending notices to Shah Rukh, Ajay, and Tiger. In a chat with Prakhar Gupta on his YouTube channel, the Maharashtra FDA Commissioner said, “The notices which have been sent are about surrogate advertising. Now, there’s a rule to that. As per 2018 Advertising and Claims regulation, it casts equal responsibility on the advertiser or promoter. Whatever you’re promoting has to be truthful. This act hasn’t come from me. It’s a 2018 regulation in the Food sector, being implemented since 2019.”

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He referred to the Food and Safety Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, enforced by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), to ensure claims to be truthful, unambiguous, and not misleading. “In this surrogacy ad, the brand is associated with something misleading,” he said, implying that the brand was trying to promote a banned product via these advertisements