From K Rustom to Parsi Dairy Farm: Mumbai’s food crackdown widens

Mumbai’s list of shuttered heritage food outlets grew longer this week. The Food and Drug Administration suspended the license of Parsi Dairy Farm at Marine Lines, an establishment that has operated since 1916, following the recent suspensions of ice-cream parlour K Rustom and the Shalimar and Noor Mohammadi restaurants.
The FDA’s inspection of Parsi Dairy Farm found a lack of a raw milk reception dock, fungal growth on the walls, raw materials stored directly on the floor, and pest and rodent infestation. A spokesperson for the dairy told TOI, ‘The company is in the process of complying with certain procedural technical observations of the FSSAI.’
The suspension is one piece of a broader statewide campaign against substandard dairy products. FDA officials say they have seized 2,317 litres of milk, 30 litres of refined edible oil used for adulteration, and 6,849.25kg of dairy products across Maharashtra, together worth more than Rs 45 lakh.
Within Mumbai, two vendors were caught tampering with milk pouches, leading to the seizure and destruction of 822 pouches (558 litres) worth Rs 39,503, with the Kandivali Crime Branch assisting and an FIR filed against vendors Krishna Lingampalli and Ravi Patikaka. In Govandi, Sufi Dairy was found storing 1,683 litres of loose pasteurized buffalo milk in steel tanks and plastic bags in violation of sealed-packaging rules, resulting in the seizure of stock worth over Rs 1 lakh.
In Mulund, Agarwal Enterprises had 61.25kg of food products, including diced cheese blend, barfi and loose paneer worth Rs 19,759, seized for missing batch numbers and expiry dates, with officials suspecting the paneer was actually a cheese analogue; samples are now under lab analysis. The FDA said the public can report violations through its AI-based grievance portal, complaints.mahafda.in.
[Wikimedia Commons/by Sameertamoreraghunath]