Tukaram Mundhe is an Indian bureaucrat on a mission.
As a state food safety commissioner, the 51-year-old has raided food businesses in the country’s commercial capital Mumbai in an unprecedented crackdown on poor hygiene and unsafe food that has captivated the public nationwide.
Mundhe has led the suspension of food permits of four pizza outlets in recent weeks, and has also targeted cricket clubs, hotels and well-known restaurants in over 3,000 raids since he took over as Maharashtra’s food safety chief in May.
When a Mumbai judge accused Mundhe of selective aggression towards private outlets and asked if court canteens were checked, his teams conducted inspections there within hours, shutting some of them which operated without licences.
“Those who try to not comply, they will face what is expected from the regulator,” Mundhe said in an interview with Reuters, talking about his no-nonsense approach.
“You are dealing with the lives of people.”
Mundhe has won widespread public admiration across India because he has tapped into deep public frustration. Even though foreign chains are fast expanding, it is local eateries, roadside kiosks and small restaurants — long dogged by concerns over hygiene — that remain hugely popular.
Each year since 2020, Indian food inspectors have checked more than 100,000 food samples and found roughly 20% to be unsafe, substandard or lacking proper labels, government data shows. Nearly 8,000 food business licences have been cancelled in the last three years.
“Everyone has tried to normalise this for years by saying it happens in India. It’s basically bottled-up anger,” said Ankur Bisen, a partner at consumer consulting firm The Knowledge Company.
“I have never seen anyone like Mundhe. It’s giving people hope.”
Finding rats and expired food
Mundhe, who is bespectacled and sports a chevron moustache, has an unconventional operating style.
He has featured in TV interviews declaring nobody dare bribe him, and that he is not afraid of administrative action despite being transferred numerous times in his 21-year career as an officer of the highly regarded Indian Administrative Service. “I get transferred every year,” he said in a 2018 interview.
Now, his food safety team’s actions go viral daily — raids lead to detailed public statements and graphic images that show interiors of eateries and grocery warehouses with stained walls, crawling cockroaches and rats, and even expired food — photos that have shocked many Indians.
“It was surprising. I did not expect these many violations,” Mundhe said.
In Mumbai, Reuters visits last week to 25 street vendors and restaurants showed heightened fear about Mundhe’s raids. One vendor has swapped artificial red dye for natural chilli in Chinese offerings, while another has started changing his frying oil three times a day and requires staff to wear gloves and head caps.
Mumbai’s omnipresent street food ‘vada pav’ — a spicy potato patty in a bun — has not escaped Mundhe’s attention. In June, he prohibited use of newspapers as packaging material — often used to wrap the delicacy.
Customers are noticing the change and consuming street food more confidently. Supriya Wagle, 14, is happy her favourite vada pav is now being packed in cleaner butter paper, saying that is “surely a relief”.
Criticism amid celebrity status
After finding lapses at some pizza stores, Mundhe’s team on Friday suspended the permit of an international food outlet after finding “live pest activity (cockroaches)” and “rotting food”. The companies did not respond to Reuters queries.
Mundhe’s crackdown has included action against a Mumbai British-era cricket club, a 70-year-old ice cream parlour and a 110-year-old Parsi Dairy.
He is facing criticism from businesses that say they should be given time to adapt, with some approaching the High Court and accusing his department of high-handedness.
In one case, the judges fined his department 500,000 rupees ($5,225) for continued suspension of an eatery even though it improved its compliance.
“If there are observations by the court, we take it seriously … if there is scope for improvement, we improve,” Mundhe said.
At an event in New Delhi on Friday, fans clicked quick selfies with Mundhe and jostled to shake his hand. One fan told him Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give him a national role.
“I don’t think I’m a celebrity. I’m just a food safety commissioner,” he told Reuters.
