The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Wednesday said it had initiated penal action against five e-commerce platforms over various non-compliances.
Among those facing action are e-commerce platforms Amazon, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, Flipkart India and Zepto. The non-compliances include misleading claims and sale of prohibited products.
The action was taken for misleading claims related to food product 'Happilo Premium Date Bites - Zesty Orange', PTI news agency reported.
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In the case of Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket, FSSAI had also initiated action owing to misleading claims and non-compliant product information related to some dairy products of Milky Mist, according to the PTI report. The products include Milky Mist Fresh Low Fat Cream, Milky Mist Farm Fresh Curd, and Milky Mist Greek Yoghurt.
The regulatory body has, over the past six months, stepped up crackdowns against food business operators (FBOs) and e-commerce companies.
What did FSSAI say?
The FSSAI, in a post on its official social media handle, said a "major crackdown on e-commerce platforms had been undertaken.
{{/usCountry}}The FSSAI, in a post on its official social media handle, said a "major crackdown on e-commerce platforms had been undertaken.
{{/usCountry}}“Penal action initiated against - Amazon, Swiggy Instamart, Bigbasket, Flipkart India and Zepto,” it said. It cited “various food safety and regulatory non-compliances” as the reason for the action.
It said this includes “misbranding/ misleading claims, sale and display of prohibited/ poisonous food articles through e-commerce platforms.” The food regulatory body said the crackdown was initiated under the FSS Act, 2006 and applicable FSSAI regulations.
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Nestle India faces legal action after FSSAI flags baby food quality
The penal action against the e-commerce platforms comes days after the food safety regulator said it was taking legal action against Nestle India Ltd. FSSAI said the step was being taken after finding that a baby food sample violated quality standards and two other infant nutrition products were promoted in contravention of the rules for such products, according to an earlier HT report. FSSAI said a sample of follow-up formula manufactured by the company was found to be substandard with respect to biotin content during laboratory analysis.
However, Nestle said its products are “fully compliant with all the applicable regulations”, adding that it would continue to work closely with FSSAI on the issue. The company's shares fell almost 3% after the news of the regulatory action, but quickly recovered to close nearly flat.
The regulator said it has filed three separate adjudication cases against Nestle India over the three products. A Nestle India spokesperson said the two products cited by FSSAI for promotional violations and their labels were approved by the regulator’s expert committee.