Hyderabad: The Food and Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is turning the heat on e-commerce platforms to ensure fruits and vegetables sold online are fresh.
FSSAI has said that beginning this year, products offered for sale online are liable for sampling at any point to verify quality. E-commerce companies like BigBasket, Grofers, Swiggy and Zomato have also been told to add an indicative image of the product on their platforms so that people know what they are ordering.
“Consumers use the e-commerce platform to buy perishable products and it is important to build their confidence and credibility,” FSSAI chief executive officer M. Pawan Agarwal said. “For this reason, FSSAI has the right to carry out random sampling of food products offered.”
The guidelines are particularly being enforced in the case of cooking oil, as there were major complaints, said the Institute of Preventive Medicine’s state food department in-charge Dr K.S. Shankar. “In the last four months, the focus has been on oil used in hotels and by roadside vendors.”
Despite the guidelines, checking of perishable products leaves much to be desired in Telangana state. “Because of staff shortage, testing of food is carried out only when there are complaints,” a senior food inspector said. “And most of the time, it is people who call in and send the samples.”
