Expired food found in Blinkit, BigBasket, Swiggy Warehouses

After repeated consumer complaints about online food quality and improperly packed deliveries, the Telangana Food Safety Department conducted inspections of leading e-commerce platforms across the city. Officers detected 1,903 units of expired, misbranded, or mislabeled food items.

As many as 75 warehouses belonging to Blinkit, BigBasket, Swiggy, Flipkart, Amazon Zepto, Reliance JioMart and several smaller local units were inspected. Over 98 enforcement and 124 surveillance samples were lifted during the inspection.

According to the food safety department, teams found expired packaged foods, wrongly labelled items, torn pouches and products carrying incorrect branding. In several units, rotten vegetables due to poor temperature control, and ready-to-eat foods were stored without segregation.

During the inspection, officials discarded 76 kg of expired or unsafe stocks at the site. Moreover, many warehouses lacked proper ventilation, had unclean floors and had stored raw and processed foods together in violation of norms.

A total of 32 improvement notices were issued. These included directions to upgrade cold-chain systems, rectify labelling errors, improve pest control and maintain separate racks for perishables.

The officials said the department would continue surprise checks across the city. “We will initiate further action once the compliance reports are reviewed,” an official said.

The Commissioner of Food Safety has also advised consumers to report any suspicious food products received through delivery platforms so that traceability checks can be carried out.