Maharashtra has ordered chain restaurants and large food businesses to put calorie counts and allergen info on their menus, making dining more transparent and safer for consumers. The new rules, part of a statewide food safety campaign, cover nearly 4.5 lakh establishments across the state.
Key Highlights of the Order. Menu Transparency: All large food businesses, chain restaurants, hotels, dhabas, cloud kitchens, caterers, and online delivery operators must show calorie counts and allergen details for every dish.
Vegetarian/Non‑Vegetarian Labels: Menus have to clearly indicate whether items are vegetarian or non‑vegetarian.
Free Drinking Water: Establishments should provide safe drinking water free of cost, and have notices to customers that they can have it.
Kitchens are to be clean, safe to eat, secure storage and clean. Washrooms are to be clean and potable water should be available.
Staff Safety: Food handlers need to undergo regular medical check‑ups, fitness certification and Food Safety Training (FoSTaC).
The Food Safety and Standards Act also makes fines, licence suspension or cancellation, closure orders and even imprisonment a violation of the law.
Why This Matters Demonstrated consumer empowerment: Before placing orders, consumers have the luxury to fully understand calories and allergies before taking the orders.
Public Health: Transparency in the context of obesity, lifestyle diseases and food allergies.
Industry Accountability: The restaurants and food businesses need to take global best practice in menu labeling and hygiene.
Broader Campaign Context This directive is part of Maharashtra FDA’s “Comprehensive Food Safety Compliance Order” following inspections of unsafe practices such as reuse of cooking oil, poor temperature control, and unhygienic food preparation. The campaign is to make safe food a fundamental right for every citizen.
Maharashtra’s new food safety order is a significant step toward healthier dining. It’s about taking calorie counts into account, allergen information, hygiene protocols, and hygiene levels from the state so we’re on this international scale and it’s also about protecting consumer health. For diners it means more transparency and confidence when they are eating out. And for businesses, this means less judgment and accountability (and compliance).
