Bengaluru: Food safety officials seized expired and mislabelled products worth Rs 1.38 crore and medicines worth around Rs 4 lakh from dark stores (retail warehouses) and storage facilities operated by online delivery platforms in Bengaluru, officials said Monday.
The inspections were conducted by the Food Safety and Drugs Administration following the directives of Health Minister U T Khader under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, they said.
Officials checked food products sold through online and e-commerce platforms for compliance with mandatory labelling requirements such as the date of manufacture, expiry date and shelf life, as well as other food safety standards.
They checked whether medicines were being stored without the required licences, officials said.
Speaking to reporters here, Khader said the state Food Safety and Drugs Administration had uncovered a network involved in procuring expired and mislabelled products and supplying them to shops at lower prices, and warned of zero tolerance towards such violations.
Khader said the department launched an inspection after receiving information through social media about a peptide party being organised in Bengaluru.
The event promises peptide tastings, where participants consume short chains of amino acids marketed for fitness, anti-ageing and recovery.
After the organisers were issued a notice, they appeared before officials and eventually cancelled the event, he said.
According to the minister, the organisers initially said the event was intended to promote a hair serum and other products and later told officials that the products had been sourced from an Amazon dark store.
From there, our team went and inspected. They did not have a licence to sell drugs, he said.
The inspection of the Amazon facility led officials to premises near Lingarajapuram, where they allegedly found products worth more than Rs 45 lakh that were either expired or improperly labelled.
He said the establishment was allegedly involved in procuring expired products, selling them to shops at lower prices and putting fresh MRP or expiry-date stickers on them.
This is a network where big companies, when products reach their expiry date, sell them at a discount to smaller players. From there, they sell them to shops. The shops get more margin and may not look at the quality. This ultimately affects the health of children and other people. We are serious about this, the minister said.
Khader said officials had been directed to take strict action under existing rules against those found violating the law.
The minister said the state government was considering discussions with the Centre and other states to strengthen coordination on food and drug safety.
He said Karnataka wanted to hold a national-level meeting of food safety officers and commissioners to discuss such issues and planned to take up with the Union Health Ministry and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India the need to update existing rules.
According to a statement issued by the department, food products worth Rs 14 lakh with incorrect or inadequate labelling and expired food products worth Rs 10 lakh were seized at Amazon’s BLR6 facility at Hitech Defence and Aerospace Park in Devanahalli.
Drugs worth Rs 2,45,352, which were allegedly being stored without a licence, were seized from the facility, it said.
At Amazon’s BLR7 facility in Anekal taluk, food products worth Rs 19 lakh with incorrect or inadequate labelling and expired food products worth Rs 13 lakh were seized. Medicines worth Rs 1.57 lakh stored without a licence were seized as well.
The department said it detected expired food products at Saptha Bazaar in HBR Layout following a complaint that the establishment was purchasing groceries, milk, vegetables, curd and other food products from online delivery agencies and reselling expired items.
Food Safety Officers seized expired products, including cashew biscuits, ragi flour, chicken patties, paneer, cookies, nuts, eggs and flour, worth around Rs 10,000, it said.
During the inspection conducted at Leo 7 Enterprises, located in Lingarajapuram, Bengaluru, it was found that various food products, including nutritional products, beverages, chocolates, sweets, ghee and nuts and seeds, which were either expired or nearing expiry, were being stored, Srinivas K, Commissioner of Food Safety and Drugs Administration, said in the statement.
The owner of the establishment told officials that food products worth approximately Rs 56 lakh were stored at the premises. The premises were subsequently sealed, officials said.
During the inspection of the Instamart facility located in Hoskote, Bengaluru Rural district, expired food products worth Rs 42 lakh were seized, he said.
The facility was closed in view of unhygienic conditions and violations of the Food Safety and Standards Act and applicable rules, he said.
The department said that, in total, food products with incorrect or inadequate labelling worth Rs 33 lakh and expired or near-expiry food products worth Rs 1.05 crore had been seized during the operation, taking the total value of seized food products to Rs 1.38 crore.
Medicines stored without licences and valued at Rs 4.02 lakh were also seized, it said.
The department said the investigation at the Instamart facility was continuing and that expired and mislabelled products valued at around Rs 1 crore were being examined.
