In Maharashtra, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an order asking food vendors not to wrap any edibles in newspapers while selling them to customers as the ink used for printing is harmful.
Showing the way to the vendors to stop giving food items like “vada pav”, “pohe”, sweets, bhel and others wrapped in newspapers to customers, the FDA also cautioned of strict action if the practise is not stopped. When giving a food parcel, the vendors often wrap the items in newspaper.
The FDA said that since the ink used for printing newspapers is made up of chemicals, offering hot food items like vada pav, pohe, fritters, bhel, bakery products and several other such food items wrapped in newspapers can be dangerous. It directed that the vendors should stop wrapping the edibles in newspapers immediately, or else strict action would be taken.
In 2016, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a Pan-India advisory, banning newspapers from being used for wrapping food items. But we received complaints that the use of newspapers by vendors is still going on. Therefore, in order to create awareness, we have issued this order.