FSSAI Asks Quick Commerce Platforms to Comply with Food Safety Standards

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked all quick commerce and e-commerce platforms to comply with food safety standards in a meeting that was held today (November 12).

Among the topics discussed in the meetings, the FSSAI instructed the platforms to immediately comply or face punitive action, a source told Outlook Business. Similarly, the food safety regulator asked the platforms to comply with the norm of the Food Safety and Standards Amendment Regulations 2020.

Under the provisions of the act, sellers and platforms should list and deliver food items that have a minimum of 30 per cent of their shelf life remaining, or at least 45 days before the expiration date.

To add to it, the regulator also instructed platforms to prioritise training delivery personnel in proper food handling practices. Additionally, the should conduct medical testing for the delivery staff.

Outlook Business reported earlier on October 25 that the food regulator might scrutinize both quick commerce and e-commerce platforms for violation of food safety practices. The government also sent notices to several quick commerce and e-commerce platforms in October this year for non compliance with the Legal Metrology Act. The act pertains to the sale and production of packaged goods in India.

This comes after a study was conducted by community platform LocalCircles. The study highlighted that an increasing number of consumers have been consistently reporting that certain online platforms are delivering products with a limited shelf life remaining. The study was conducted with 12,000 responses. Out of it, 57 per cent consumers also said that majority of the online platforms fail to display the "best before" date for packaged food products intended for human consumption.

Sachin Taparia, Founder of LocalCircles who had escalated the issue to FSSAI CEO and Consumer Affairs Secretary in October, said that the meeting by the food regulatory is a positive step.

"Now FSSAI must ensure that platforms become compliant immediately and not sell any packaged product near expiry date. Similarly, Legal Metrology and CCPA must ensure that all online platforms must also be compliant to PCR 2017 and for all human consumption products display the best before date on their app so the consumers can make informed decisions," said Taparia. Amid the growing market size of quick commerce platforms, the government has also increased its scrutiny on these platforms to ensure that compliance is maintained.