FSSAI Crackdown Continues With Fresh Show-Cause Notices Issued To Zepto, Others

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued additional show-cause notices to quick commerce firm Zepto and various food and nutraceutical brands, continuing its crackdown on food safety violations. The notices to Zepto followed a social media consumer complaint alleging the delivery of expired besan packets.

Besides Zepto, BMS Lifescience, HealthyHey Foods, and bakery brand Bakelite Food Processing received the show-cause notices due to misleading labels and advertisements. BMS Lifescience was penalized for promoting a cranberry urinary tract health capsule with an expired FSSAI registration certificate and making unapproved health-related claims.

HealthyHey Foods faced penalties for discrepancies in labelled ingredients, making unapproved claims, and misusing the FSSAI logo. Bakelite was reprimanded for describing its Puneri Cream Roll product as 'creamy' when it contains no cream or dairy-based ingredients. The FSSAI has given all the companies a deadline to submit comprehensive written explanations and corrective action reports or face license suspensions and statutory penalties.

This series of notices is part of a broader pattern of the FSSAI tackling illegal food labeling and marketing practices on online platforms, with previous actions against Amazon, Bigbasket, Flipkart, Swiggy Instamart, and beverage brand Storia.