For members of Mumbai's storied Otters Club, the news landed hard. The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has suspended the Bandra institution's food licence after inspectors said they found analogue paneer in its kitchen — a product whose manufacture, storage and sale the state has prohibited.
And the club is far from alone. The action sits inside a sweeping statewide enforcement drive that ran between July 14, 2026, and August 17, 2026, with inspectors fanning out across Maharashtra.
The establishments named
From a heritage Mumbai club to a Pune mutton hotel, the FDA's list cuts across the state's dining map.
| Establishment | Location | Action taken |
|---|---|---|
| Otters Club | Bandra, Mumbai | FSSAI licence suspended August 18; alleged analogue paneer, dirty floors, broken tiles, blocked drains |
| Prince of Wales Restaurant | Khar West | Registration suspended; poor temperature control, pest-control gaps, peeling paint |
| Café Sifarish | Andheri East | Licence suspended; failed to file compliance report after Improvement Notice |
| Raj Oil Trading | Vile Parle East | Licence suspended; rat gnaw marks on oil packets, foul odour, chemical segregation failures |
| Daily Fresh Bakers & Cakes | Dahisar | Legal action initiated; cakes allegedly prepared on counter floors, expired food colours |
| Hotel Chul Mutton | Lohegaon, Pune | FSSAI licence suspended with immediate effect over Schedule 4 hygiene violations |
| Shivam Traders | Gandhibag, Nagpur | Action on August 14 for Schedule 4 non-compliance; suspension not specified |
What inspectors found at Otters Club
FDA officials inspected the club on Tuesday (August 17, 2026) and recovered a product labelled 'Regular Paneer', classified as 'Proprietary Food' and supplied by Punjab Sind Dairy. The FDA alleged it was analogue paneer.
The list of problems didn't end there: dirty floors, broken tiles, partially blocked drains and damaged refrigerator gaskets that could cause temperature fluctuations. The club had also failed to maintain records for Total Polar Compounds in edible oil and was not following the First-In-First-Out system for managing food stocks, according to the FDA.
Raids, seizures and a statewide sweep
The drive reached well beyond restaurant kitchens. On August 17, officials intercepted vehicle AR 02 C 7766 at Charoti Toll Naka in Palghar and seized roughly 2,54,640 units of colostrum valued at ₹2.12 lakh, held by Idris Rahimsha Juneja. The stock was destroyed over inadequate temperature control, unhygienic transportation, missing labels and suspicion of adulteration.
The crackdown on banned gutkha, pan masala and scented tobacco produced seven FIRs and 10 arrests across the Konkan, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur divisions, with goods worth ₹99.39 lakh seized — including vehicles valued at ₹24 lakh.
Under the "Safe Food, Safe Maharashtra" drive, officials also seized milk and dairy items, bakery products and edible oil weighing a combined 5,659 kg and valued at approximately ₹8.22 lakh. In Solapur, stocks of rabdi and gulab jamun premix — 5,23,200 units valued at ₹3,400 — were seized from a vehicle at Barshi; unlabelled pedhas were confiscated in Kolhapur; and 28 kg of expired cumin was stopped from sale in Akola.
In all, banned and other food products worth ₹1,07,61,944 were seized during the July 14–August 17 period, across 11 raids.
"Popularity was never my goal; what matters is public health." — FDA Maharashtra Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe
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