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FSSAI Notices to Swiggy Instamart: If you are also fond of ordering grocery, fruits, vegetables or food items online sitting at home, then this news is a big alert for you. The country’s top food regulatory body Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has taken a very strict stance against the quick commerce platform Swiggy Instamart. FSSAI has issued not one or two, but 9 legal notices to the company. This major action has been taken after continuous serious complaints received from customers in which there were allegations of delivering expired and very poor quality food products.

Regulator angry at getting away with just giving refund

According to FSSAI, a large number of consumers had lodged complaints that when they contacted customer support after receiving defective and contaminated goods from Swiggy Instamart, no concrete solution to their problem was found. In many cases, the company tried to hush up the matter by simply refunding the money. The regulator says that on sensitive issues to food safety, merely giving refund is not enough, but strict corrective steps were required to be taken against the vendors responsible for this, in which the company completely failed.

Complaints range from expired whey protein to smelly eggs

Customers have exposed Swiggy Instmart with evidence on the complaint portal of FSSAI. Complaints were mainly lodged regarding these products:

• Whey Protein and Snacks: Many fitness lovers and customers were delivered expired whey protein and packaged snacks.

• Rotten Organic Eggs: Many people complained that the expensive organic eggs procured from Instmart had a terrible smell and were completely rotten.

• Contaminated Milk and Packets: The quality of milk and other packaged food items used in daily use was found to be extremely poor and contaminated.

Selling of brands without valid license also exposed

During the investigation, FSSAI officials have detected another big fraud. Some food products on the platform were being sold indiscriminately under brand names which were not recorded in the official FSSAI license records of the concerned Food Business Operator (FBO). Expressing strong objection to this, the regulator has directed the company to immediately stop the sale or promotion of any food product without a valid licensed name or identity.

FSSAI seeks answers from Swiggy Instmart on these 7 important issues

The regulator has ordered the company to submit documents to all the complaints and submit a detailed report. Swiggy mainly needs to answer these 7 questions:

1. What is the scale of adding new sellers/Vendors to the platform?

2. How are food safety rules being followed during delivery?

3. What is the system for complete information about products and their traceability (production source)?

4. How is the quality of food products monitored in dark stores?

5. How are customer complaints resolved legally and permanently?

6. Who monitors daily food business operations?

7. How does a company’s internal quality control and assurance system work?

Government keeps a close eye on social media and online complaints

The market of quick commerce and online grocery is growing very fast in India. In such a situation, FSSAI has made it clear that it will not spare any company that plays with the health of its customers. The department is taking suo motu cognizance not only on its portal but also on the basis of complaints received on social media (X, Instagram) and the photos and videos shared with them. If needed, government teams can collect samples of food products directly from the warehouses of these companies and send them for lab testing. This action of FSSAI is a strong message to all online food delivery companies that compromising on quality in the pursuit of profit can prove costly.