Mumbai A complete ban has been imposed on the sale and purchase of open cooking oil. It is harmful to health and poses a risk of fatal diseases. Therefore, FDA Commissioner Takaram Munde has issued an order to ban it. This order has been issued earlier. In this effective manner, FDA will comply with it. A state-wide comprehensive compliance order has been issued by the Food Safety Commissioner, in which the entire supply from producer to retailer and online seller has been banned and it is prohibited. No concession will be made in the matter of safety of cooking oil, which is directly related to the daily diet of citizens. Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Commissioner of Food Safety and Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra, Takaram Munde has issued a comprehensive state-wide compliance and enforcement order for the edible oils and fats sector. The fourteen-point order is effective with immediate effect and is not limited to retailers but is mandatory for the entire supply chain, from oil expeller unit to online sellers.
The Food and Drug Administration’s inspection has found widespread and consistent lack of compliance in the edible oil supply chain. Operating a business without a valid license or in the wrong business category, mixing cheap and undeclared oil with declared oil, sale of substandard oil with acid value and industrial trans fat exceeding the limit, illegal adulteration of mustard oil, re-labeling to hide the source and date of origin of oil, re-packing of expired oil, use of packaging unfit for food, in view of these issues, this order has been issued to provide a uniform and clear compliance framework across the state. This order will be applicable to oil expeller units, solvent extraction units and oil refiners
Producers of banaspati, interesterified banaspati fat, bakery shortening, margarine and table spreads
Blenders of multi-source edible vegetable oil
Repacking and re-labeling importers, wholesalers, distributors, superstockists and transporters
Granny shops, supermarkets, departmental stores and e-commerce and online sellers
Groundnuts, This order is applicable to all edible oils and fats like mustard, soybean, sunflower, cardi, banola, rice bran, palm and palmolein, coconut, sesame, corn, multi-source edible vegetable oil and banaspati, irrespective of the size and business of the establishment. There are 497 edible oil producers in Maharashtra: Centrally licensed: 212, State licensed: 285, Total: 1247. A total of 1142 edible oil samples were taken in the year 2025-2026, out of which 1142 were found to be substandard, 77* substandard, 13 unsafe and 15 mislabelled.
Important instructions of the order
A valid FSSAI license or registration is mandatory under “License and Laboratory”. The license should be prominently displayed in the establishment.

• As per other provisions of Schedule 4, Part-2, it is a condition of eligibility for a license for the edible oil producer to have its own laboratory for sample testing. The agreement with an external laboratory is only additional and not a substitute.
  Mode of sale
  Edible oil shall be sold only in sealed, tamper-proof and fully labelled packs. Sale of open and unpackaged oil is prohibited. The producer or distributor supplying open oil shall be the principal violator. He shall be liable under sections 26 and 27. The retailer shall reject unsealed or tampered goods and give the information of the supplier to the Food Safety Officer.

A flock of 28 penguins that were found dead on an island off the coast of the Australian state of Tasmania will be tested for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, authorities said on Thursday.Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that 28 penguins and three greater crested terns were found dead by surveillance teams on King Island, about 100 km off Tasmania’s northwest coast, on Wednesday.

Incident controller Wes Ford said that samples from the birds have been sent to be tested for the H5N1 strain and that the birds would be collected on Thursday to reduce the risk of transmission, reports Xinhua news agency.”Tasmanians care deeply about our wildlife, and particularly our penguins, so we understand that reports like these may be distressing for the community,” he said.

The island state reported its first case of the highly pathogenic strain on Aug. 13, almost two months after it was first detected on the Australian mainland in June.Ford said there had been 11 confirmed H5N1 cases in Tasmania as of Thursday, all in the state’s northwest or on King Island.

“We expect to continue receiving reports of sick and dead birds on King Island, along the northwest coast and in other parts of Tasmania,” he said.He urged Tasmanians to keep cats indoors and to walk dogs on leads to minimise their infection risks and to avoid contact with sick or dead animals.According to the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, there have been 262 confirmed positive H5N1 bird flu events in Australian wildlife as of Aug. 18, but there have been no detections in poultry or the agriculture industry.

New Delhi: Shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) — the country’s largest insurer — traded 1 per cent higher on Thursday after receiving approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase its stake in HDFC Bank to up to 9.99 per cent.

In its regulatory filing, HDFC Bank said the RBI has approved LIC’s application to acquire up to 9.99 per cent of the bank’s paid-up share capital or voting rights.

In addition, LIC currently holds 4.11 per cent of HDFC Bank’s total share capital as of August 14, according to the filing.

The approval gives the state-owned insurance firm flexibility to significantly increase its holding in the private sector lender, subject to applicable regulatory and statutory requirements.

The RBI approval is also subject to conditions specified by the central bank and compliance with relevant Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulations, it said.

However, the approval does not mean that LIC will immediately raise its holding to 9.99 per cent. Any increase in stake will have to be undertaken in accordance with the conditions laid down by the RBI and other applicable regulatory norms.

LIC is one of India’s largest institutional investors, while HDFC Bank is among the country’s leading private sector lenders.

Shares of LIC traded around 1 per cent higher at Rs 417.40 on the BSE in early trade on Thursday. The PSU stock has touched a 52-week high of Rs 468.30 and a 52-week low of Rs 361, according to the exchange.

Similarly, HDFC Bank stock also traded higher, jumping 1.09 per cent to Rs 728 on the aforesaid exchange. The banking stock recorded a 52-week high of Rs 1,020.35 and a 52-week low of Rs 715.05.