Who Is Responsible When Food Safety Fails in Quick Commerce?

 

BIZ MASALA  |  BUSINESS EXPLAINER

From manufacturers and warehouses to delivery platforms: understanding accountability in India’s fast-moving grocery business

Biz Masala Business Explainer  •  20 October 2026

Illustrative editorial artwork; it does not depict a specific company or facility.

The convenience is immediate. But who is accountable?

Quick commerce has changed how consumers buy everyday essentials. Behind the convenience is a chain of manufacturers, distributors, warehouse operators, retailers, e-commerce food businesses and delivery personnel. Each may handle a different part of the journey—but the customer experiences only the final product.

A Maharashtra food-safety investigation reported in October 2026 has brought the issue into focus. Published reports described allegations that expired or rejected food intended for disposal was diverted back into commercial channels. Those allegations remain under investigation and must not be treated as proof of guilt.

The broader question extends beyond any single case: how should responsibility be allocated, and how can businesses demonstrate that their controls work?

1. The manufacturer: where responsibility begins

Manufacturers must comply with applicable food-safety requirements for the products they make, including relevant standards, production controls and labelling rules. They also need suitable processes for identifying products that fail quality checks, become expired or are returned from the supply chain.

FSSAI’s December 2024 advisory on rejected and expired food highlights recordkeeping and reporting requirements for specified categories of licensed manufacturers, repackers, relabellers and importers. It describes reporting quantities rejected or expired and the action taken, including destruction, auction or alternative use, with disposal-agency details. The advisory should be read according to the categories of businesses it covers—not as a blanket statement that every obligation applies identically to every retailer or platform.

Business lesson: identifying a product as unsuitable for sale is only the beginning. The company needs an appropriate, documented process for handling it.

2. The warehouse: where operational controls matter

Warehouses are critical control points. Products may be stored, sorted, transferred or prepared for dispatch. Weak segregation, poor inventory controls or unsuitable storage conditions can increase the risk that a product is mishandled or selected for an order when it should not be.

Businesses should establish controls appropriate to their operation, including identifying and isolating expired, recalled, damaged or rejected stock; maintaining suitable storage conditions; blocking quarantined products from sale; recording transfers to disposal providers; and investigating discrepancies between records and physical stock.

These are operational safeguards. The precise legal requirements depend on the applicable rules, the food-business category and the activities performed.

3. The platform: does selling online change the rules?

Selling groceries through an app does not remove applicable food-safety responsibilities. FSSAI has issued guidance for e-commerce food business operators addressing matters such as licensing, seller information, food-safety compliance and product information presented online.

A December 2024 FSSAI advisory for e-commerce food businesses also highlighted last-mile food-safety training, separation of food and non-food items during delivery, accurate online product claims and remaining shelf-life expectations.

The legal role of each business matters. A technology intermediary, a seller, a warehouse operator and a food business operator may have different obligations depending on their activities and the relevant rules. Contracts alone do not answer every question about regulatory responsibility.

The central question is whether the controls applicable to each participant are clear, implemented and verifiable.

4. The delivery chain: the final physical hand-off

Food safety does not stop when an order leaves a warehouse. During delivery, products can be exposed to unsuitable temperatures, contamination or inappropriate handling. These risks are particularly important for products requiring controlled temperatures.

Businesses should ensure that packaging, handling, transport and temperature controls match the requirements applicable to the products they carry. Customers usually cannot see whether a product experienced a temperature excursion or was mishandled earlier in the journey. This information gap makes traceability and internal controls important.

5. The regulator: standards, inspections and enforcement

India’s food-safety framework is built around the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and regulations and directions issued under it. FSSAI sets national standards and provides regulatory guidance; state food-safety authorities undertake enforcement within their jurisdiction.

Enforcement measures should be described precisely. An inspection finding is not necessarily a final determination of liability. A notice, a licence suspension and an FIR have different legal significance. The exact implications depend on the relevant documents and circumstances.

For businesses, compliance should involve controls that work during ordinary operations—not simply paperwork prepared for an inspection.

6. The 2026 amendment: an important distinction

A final FSSAI notification dated 23 June 2026 amended the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. It states that the licence condition requiring daily records of production and raw-material utilisation does not apply to non-manufacturing food businesses. It also amends the FIFO/FEFO stock-rotation provision so that it does not apply to retailers.

FIFO means First In, First Out; FEFO means First Expiry, First Out. The amendment came into force on publication in the Official Gazette. This is narrower than saying that retailers or other non-manufacturing businesses are exempt from food-safety law generally. Other applicable requirements concerning hygiene, safe handling, storage, product quality and enforcement may continue to apply.

For companies, the practical lesson is to maintain a current compliance map that identifies the rules applicable to each facility and activity. This article is a general explainer, not legal advice; businesses should consult the official notification and qualified advisers for decisions about their own compliance.

7. What a supply-chain failure might look like

Consider a hypothetical example: a warehouse identifies a batch as expired and removes it from sale. A contractor collects it for disposal. The warehouse records the handover, but the company does not adequately verify the final handling of the stock. Later, a similar product appears in the market.

That scenario would raise questions: Was the batch correctly identified? Was the quantity recorded accurately? Was the contractor authorised for the relevant activity? What happened after collection? Can the final destination and treatment be verified? Did any product return to sale?

This is an illustrative scenario, not a description of a proven event involving a particular company. The distinction is between recording a handover and verifying the final outcome. A receipt can show that goods left a warehouse; by itself, it does not necessarily establish what happened afterward.

8. What businesses can do now

·       Assign responsibility at every hand-off: storage, quarantine, transport, disposal and record reconciliation.

·       Maintain traceability appropriate to the operation, linking product identifiers and quantities with relevant movement and disposal records.

·       Verify disposal contractors and document responsibilities, destination and evidence of completion.

·       Prevent products identified as expired, recalled or otherwise unsuitable from being sold, in accordance with applicable requirements and internal procedures.

·       Investigate discrepancies between inventory, handover documents and final disposal evidence.

·       Keep compliance requirements current and determine which rules apply to each business activity.

These measures can strengthen accountability, although their specific legal status varies by business and circumstance.

9. What consumers can reasonably check

·       Check expiry or use-by information on the package.

·       Inspect packaging for leakage, tampering or visible damage.

·       Follow storage instructions, especially for chilled or frozen products.

·       Keep order details and photographs if a product appears unsafe.

·       Report concerns through the seller’s or platform’s complaint channel and escalate unresolved food-safety concerns to the appropriate authority.

Consumers cannot independently audit an entire supply chain. A complaint should be investigated on its facts; one complaint alone does not establish a systemic problem.

The bigger business lesson

Quick commerce is designed to reduce the time between ordering and delivery. Food safety requires reliable controls across every stage of the product’s journey. Manufacturers, warehouse operators, retailers, e-commerce food businesses and delivery providers may have different responsibilities, and those responsibilities should be assessed under the applicable law rather than assumed to be identical.

For companies, effective food-safety systems are more than a compliance expense: they can protect customers, preserve brand reputation and expose operational failures before they grow. For regulators, clear requirements and effective enforcement are essential. For consumers, transparency and accessible complaint mechanisms matter.

The ultimate test is not how quickly an order reaches the doorstep. It is whether the businesses involved can demonstrate that the food was handled safely along the way.

Sources and further reading

·       FSSAI — Gazette notification, Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses (Second Amendment Regulations), 23 June 2026
https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/notifications/2026/06/6a3c0a8fbaf61273797.pdf

·       FSSAI — Advisory on rejected and expired food items, 16 December 2024
https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/advisories/2024/12/6773d3d6a50f3Advisory-expired-rejected%20food.pdf

·       FSSAI — Advisory for e-commerce food business operators, December 2024
https://fssai.gov.in/upload/advisories/2024/12/674efa161d756Adobe%20Scan%203%20Dec%202024.pdf

·       FSSAI — Licensing and Registration Regulations: amendments index
https://www.fssai.gov.in/food-law/regulations/amendments/licensing-registration

·       Reuters — Report on Maharashtra's October 2026 food-safety investigation
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/indian-state-food-safety-authority-names-blinkit-reliance-executives-expired-2026-10-17/

Editorial checklist before publication

·       Check each legal summary against the original Gazette notification and current FSSAI guidance.

·       Keep the October Maharashtra case attributed to published reports and describe allegations as allegations.

·       Do not imply that all quick-commerce platforms have breached the law.

·       Keep the hero image caption identifying it as illustrative artwork.

·       Add the final public Blogger URL to the promotional posts after publication.