New Delhi: Food regulator FSSAI on Saturday said it has issued 9 notices to quick-commerce platform Swiggy Instamart following several consumer complaints, including of alleged supply of rotten and expired food products, against the platform.
In a social media post on X, Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it has “issued 9 notices to Swiggy Instamart following multiple consumer complaints alleging violations under the FSS Act 2006.”
The FSSAI informed that the consumer complaints “alleged the supply of expired, spoiled, rotten, contaminated and otherwise unsafe food products through Swiggy Instamart”.
The regulator has directed the platform to submit a detailed explanation and compliance report failing which appropriate legal action will be initiated.
Meanwhile, an Instamart spokesperson said: “We are reviewing the flagged listings by FSSAI and are in touch with the authorities to resolve the same.”
Elaborating on the consumer complaints, the FSSAI mentioned that ‘Healthify 100% Whey Protein 1 kg’ and ‘Noice Homestyle Madras Mixture with Peanuts’ were allegedly supplied after their expiry dates.
‘Akshayakalpa Organic Egg’ was reportedly found expired, rotten, emitting a foul odour, with signs of contamination. Similarly, ‘Kakke da Paratha’ was reportedly found spoiled, emitting a foul odour.
The FSSAI said that some of the complaints alleged delivery of contaminated eggs and milk, along with damaged packaged food items through Instamart.
“An infant food formulation was reportedly found in a highly deteriorated and unsafe condition, showing signs of contamination and improper storage and handling,” it added. Even after return of this same product, it was allegedly re-supplied.
FSSAI also observed incorrect, invalid or non-existent FSSAI licence number. Food business entities were allegedly being listed under names different from those reflected against their FSSAI Registration.
“Some complaints alleged that no satisfactory response, grievance redressal or corrective action was taken despite the complaints being forwarded or escalated, while one complaint stated that only a refund was offered without addressing the reported food safety concerns,” the FSSAI said.
The regulator said these notices raised concerns regarding seller onboarding, compliance verification, traceability, food quality monitoring, consumer grievance redressal, supervision of food business activities and the adequacy of food safety compliance systems.
Of late, the regulator has been posting on social media platforms regarding its actions taken on food business operators (FBOs) as well as e-commerce companies over misleading claims and advertisements as well as labelling violations under the law.
The notices are based on suo moto cognizance as well as consumer complaints.
In the last 2-3 months, the FSSAI issued notices to many energy drinks makers, alcoholic beverage companies, food companies and quick-commerce platforms.
The regulator gave notices to Lotte India, Ferns N Petals and Kubera Foods for misleading claims and violation of labelling norms on their various food products.
The FSSAI sent notices to six beverages brands claiming to be ‘energy drinks’ for misbranding and misleading claims. These are– Red Bull Energy Drink, Pepsico’s Adrenaline Rush Energy Drink, Reliance Consumer Products’ ‘Campa Energy Drink- Gold Boost’, Sting Energy Drink, Hell Energy and Coca-Cola-backed Monster Energy.
The regulator has also sent a notice to quick-commerce player Blinkit regarding consumer complaints about the sale of poor-quality eggs on its platform after the regulator took ‘suo-moto cognisance’ of consumer complaints on social media platforms. In another case, it sought explanation from Blinkit on a complaint by a person who allegedly fell sick after consuming curd ordered from the platform.
Earlier this month, the FSSAI issued a notice to Heritage Foods Ltd for misleading claims regarding its product ‘Fresh Paneer’ as part of its efforts to safeguard consumer interest.(PTI)
