The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, initiated penal action against major e-commerce platforms — including Amazon, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, Flipkart India, and Zepto — for a range of regulatory non-compliances. The violations cited include misbranding, misleading nutritional or product claims, and the sale and display of prohibited or poisonous food articles.

What the Crackdown Covers

According to the food regulator, the non-compliances span two broad categories: misleading claims made by food business operators (FBOs) on their listings, and the active sale or display of food articles that are either prohibited or classified as poisonous under Indian food safety law. The enforcement action is part of a broader push by FSSAI this year to tighten oversight of both traditional FBOs and the rapidly expanding e-commerce food retail segment.

Notably, this is not an isolated action — the regulator has reportedly stepped up enforcement against e-commerce platforms across 2026, signalling a structural shift from advisory notices to formal penal proceedings.

FSSAI's Front-of-Pack Labelling Proposal

Separately, FSSAI has proposed a single-phase rollout of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling (FoPL) — a system of prominent warning labels on packaged food products that are high in salt, sugar, or fat. The proposal was submitted via an affidavit before the Supreme Court, which had earlier directed the regulator and the government to provide a clear implementation timeline.

Under the proposed framework, any packaged food product exceeding prescribed thresholds for nutrients of concern would be required to display a red hexagon on a white square background on the front of the pack. The design draws on models already adopted in countries such as Canada, and is intended to enable consumers to identify high-risk products at a glance — at the point of purchase.

Why a Single-Phase Rollout Matters

FSSAI's decision to adopt a single-phase implementation — rather than a staged approach — signals urgency and a departure from earlier, more cautious rollout strategies that critics argued allowed industry to delay compliance. The warning label format is designed specifically to flag nutrients that pose health risks when consumed in excess, addressing longstanding concerns from public health advocates about opaque nutritional disclosures on packaged foods.

This comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny of India's food supply chain, from farm-gate to digital shelf — with the Supreme Court's active involvement adding institutional pressure on the regulator to deliver.

What Happens Next

The penal proceedings against the five e-commerce platforms are ongoing, and the eventual penalties — if confirmed — could set a precedent for how India enforces food safety standards in the digital marketplace. On the labelling front, the Supreme Court is expected to review FSSAI's affidavit and may specify a binding deadline for the FoPL rollout. Industry bodies representing packaged food manufacturers are likely to weigh in on the proposed thresholds before the framework is finalised.