India prepares stricter oversight of online food sales

what happened

India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) is preparing tougher requirements for quick-delivery platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Ltd.’s Instamart and Amazon Now. Newsmetry API reports that the regulator wants online listings to show manufacturing and expiry dates together with batch numbers, while platforms could be held responsible for misleading claims made by manufacturers.

FSSAI is also considering mandatory photographs and addresses for dark kitchens, as well as stronger inspections of dark stores, including their handling of frozen products. Blinkit, Instamart, Flipkart and Amazon’s India unit have already faced regulatory action involving misbranding, prohibited goods and invalid licenses. The measures could affect India’s $80 billion online retail market, where groceries represent as much as 51 per cent of sales, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants.

The regulator has widened its campaign to food manufacturers, hotels, restaurants and the supplements and nutraceuticals industry. About 700,000 inspections were conducted between April and September, nearly twice the number a year earlier. Prosecutions involving e-commerce companies have increased five- to sixfold, while PepsiCo Inc., Reliance Consumer Products Ltd. and Monster Beverage Corp. are challenging FSSAI notices in court.

why it matters

The planned rules increase compliance risks for quick-commerce platforms, food producers and online supplement sellers. Court challenges by major companies may make implementation of the stricter standards more difficult.

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