India, Sept. 9 -- The FDA has made it clear that there will be no exceptions made on food safety rules mandated for the city's Ganesh mandals. Each one of the 12,000 public mandals, big or small, will have to register with the FDA, and maintain receipts for ingredients used to prepare prasad and community meals.

The issue was discussed with representatives of Ganesh mandals at a meeting convened by FDA joint commissioner Parag Malawade and assistant commissioner Anupama Patil at the FDA's BKC office on Tuesday.

The decision has caused concern among mandals, particularly the smaller ones that rely on volunteers rather than professional caterers to prepare food. Satish Nayak, former trustee of the GSB Seva Mandal, said the mandals were wi...