FSSAI initiates action against Amazon, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket and Zepto over food listings
The food regulator has flagged alleged misbranding, misleading claims and the sale or display of prohibited food products across major marketplaces. FSSAI has also proposed limiting the use of “paneer” in labelling and marketing of non-dairy analogue products.
What happened
FSSAI initiated penal action against Amazon, Flipkart India, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket and Zepto over alleged food misbranding, misleading claims and
Why this matters
Any partnership or acquisition involving food marketplaces, private labels or dairy-alternative brands now warrants deeper diligence on FSSAI compliance, seller monitoring and product-labelling exposure.
What to watch
- Formal FSSAI notices, product-specific delisting orders, penalties or prosecution disclosures involving the named platforms.
- Publication of final guidance restricting 'paneer' or other dairy terminology for plant-based and analogue products.
- State food-safety inspections or sampling actions that extend beyond central regulatory notices.
- Sharp increases in unavailable SKUs, search-result suppression, customer complaints or category-level cancellation rates.
- Marketplace policy updates requiring additional seller licences, label images, test reports or claim substantiation.
- Brand packaging-change announcements in plant-based dairy, health foods, supplements, imported foods and functional beverages.
- Audit high-risk food categories for misleading health, nutrition, origin, organic, dairy and vegetarian claims.
- Temporarily suppress listings lacking valid FSSAI licence data, compliant labels, ingredient declarations or substantiation documents.
- Create automated keyword and image-screening controls for prohibited products and restricted terminology, including dairy-analogue references.
- Increase seller indemnities, documentation requirements and penalties for repeat non-compliance.
- Prepare customer-facing substitution and refund workflows for sudden SKU removals.
- Engage brands on relabelling timelines and prioritize compliant private-label and national-brand inventory.