The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued show-cause notices to quick commerce unicorn Zepto as well as several food and nutraceutical brands amid a broader crackdown on food safety violations. 

The notice against Zepto followed a consumer complaint on social media alleging delivery of expired packets of besan (gram flour). The regulator directed the platform to submit order logs, seller details, warehouse tracking, root-cause analysis, and proof of stock withdrawal and customer refunds. 

Besides Zepto, nutraceutical brands BMS Lifescience and HealthyHey Foods, as well as bakery brand Bakelite Food Processing, received show-cause notices over misleading labelling and advertising. 

The regulator has directed all the companies to submit comprehensive written explanations and corrective action reports within stipulated deadlines or face license suspensions and statutory penalties. 

Just days earlier, the regulator pulled up BigBasket and Flipkart over misleading promotions carried by products sold on the respective platforms. 

Besides, the FSSAI has also sanctioned adjudication proceedings against beverage brand Storia. It had earlier flagged the brand’s pomegranate juice for containing only 4% pomegranate juice concentrate and 12% apple juice concentrate, in spite of misleading front-of-pack branding and visual imagery. 

The authority had also cited non-compliant declarations, including prominent “No Added Sugar” claims alongside obscured disclosures, and the unapproved claim “Equivalent to 100% Fruit Juice (Reconstituted)”.

Notably, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had also fined the brand ₹1 Lakh for misleading consumers . The consumer protection body pulled up Storia for using the branding “100%” in their product labelling, due to reconstituted ingredients and lack of evidence.

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