FSSAI directs e-commerce platforms to step up food safety protocols, warns of strict action for lapses

FSSAI directs e-commerce platforms to step up food safety protocols, warns of strict action for lapses

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on July 8 directed e-commerce platforms engaged in the sale and delivery of food to strengthen safety and hygiene practices across their supply chains, warning that any non-compliance would be taken “with utmost seriousness” and may lead to “severe action.”

At a meeting held at FSSAI’s headquarters in New Delhi, CEO G Kamala Vardhana Rao issued a set of directives to more than 70 representatives from leading e-commerce platforms, as the regulator pushes for tighter oversight in India’s fast-expanding online food and grocery market.

The directives

Platforms have been instructed to display their FSSAI licences or registration numbers on all receipts, invoices, and cash memos issued to consumers. They must also publicise the Food Safety Connect app on customer-facing documents.

Rao also directed all platforms to disclose complete details of their warehouses and storage facilities on the FoSCoS portal, including photographs uploaded on a regular basis. These facilities must be registered or licensed by the FSSAI.

A key focus of the meeting was the training of food handlers involved in the e-commerce supply chain. All such personnel — including those employed directly by platforms or via third parties — must undergo FSSAI’s FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) programme. Platforms have been asked to share detailed training plans and timelines with the regulator.

The possibility of displaying “Date of Expiry/Use By” information at the point of online purchase was also discussed, though no mandate has been issued yet.

FSSAI reiterated that all platforms must strictly follow the Standard Operating Procedures under the Food Safety and Standards Act. E-commerce firms were directed to share data regarding their warehouses, food handlers, and other supply chain operations to enhance transparency and regulatory oversight.

“Food safety is a collective responsibility — from manufacturing to last-mile delivery,” Rao said, adding that platforms must ensure compliance at every stage of the value chain.

Heightened scrutiny

The meeting comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of quick commerce and e-commerce platforms. In June, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) flagged a Blinkit dark store in Pune for operating without a mandatory food safety licence. Days earlier, the FDA had suspended the food business licence of Zepto parent Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd after identifying hygiene and operational lapses at its Dharavi facility in Mumbai.

With rapid fulfilment models reshaping how Indians buy food, regulators are tightening their grip to ensure that convenience does not come at the cost of safety.