A Reliance Retail outlet in Maharashtra’s Buldhana is under regulatory scrutiny after food safety officials acted on a consumer complaint alleging fungal growth and live larvae in packaged kaju katli.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the Reliance Retail outlet at ARD Cinemall on August 8.
The suspected product was manufactured on May 29, 2026, and was due to expire on August 29. While the batch was not available at the outlet, officials found another batch of the same product and collected samples for laboratory testing.
The FDA also seized 54 boxes of kaju katli weighing 11.34 kg and valued at around `10,238 as a precautionary measure pending the test results.
Reliance Retail executives were not immediately available for comment. Further action under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, will depend on the laboratory findings, FDA officials said.
The Maharashtra FDA action came at a time the federal food safety regulator has stepped up its crackdown against violations of food safety standards.
Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) imposed a penalty on AWL Agri Business, Mangaluru, after a laboratory analysis of a retail sample of Fortune ‘Fryola’ Refined Sunflower Seed Oil found that its vitamin D content was below the prescribed standard, making the fortified edible oil substandard.
Last week, the FSSAI also ordered Pie Foods to stop selling its two products — Monk Fruit Extract Sweetener and Monk Fruit Sweetener Drops — flagging violations of labelling norms. It also said that the product label lacked mandatory declarations.