Maharashtra orders calorie labels and hygiene rules for restaurants

Maharashtra has ordered large food businesses to start showing calorie counts, allergen details and veg-non veg labels while inspectors fan out across nearly 4.5 lakh outlets under a statewide compliance drive that began Thursday, June 26, 2026. The new rules also tighten licence checks, hygiene standards, drinking water service and how food can be served or packed.

The Food and Drug Administration launched the push as part of its Safe Food, Healthy Maharashtra campaign and said the order applies to hotels, restaurants, dhabas, cloud kitchens, caterers and online food delivery operators. Tukaram Mundhe, the FDA commissioner, requires every food service establishment to have a valid FSSAI licence or registration, and the agency requires those certificates to be displayed prominently where customers and inspectors can see them.

The menu-labelling piece mirrors national Food Safety and Standards Authority of India rules already on the books for food service establishments with central licences or outlets in 10 or more locations. Those businesses are required to display calorific value per serving, serving size, allergen information and vegetarian or non-vegetarian logos on menu cards, menu boards, display boards or booklets, with the information shown clearly and prominently. The FSSAI issued a clarification on April 12, 2024: the disclosures can be shown through those formats rather than hidden in fine print.

Menus, prep sheets and point-of-sale systems will need to match ingredient lists, recipe portions and allergen calls, while back-of-house teams will have to keep storage temperatures, stop improper food handling and avoid repeated use of cooking oil beyond permissible limits. The order also bans newspapers or any printed paper for serving or packing food, requires free drinking water for customers and says customer washrooms must be kept clean.

Inspectors have been finding unhygienic preparation, poor storage, temperature failures, pest infestations and workers without mandatory health clearances. Penalties can include fines, closure, licence cancellation and, in some cases, jail.