FSSAI to review progress on de-listing of non-licensed restaurants in October

Food regulator FSSAI will review in the first week of October the progress made by the online food delivery platforms, including Zomato and Swiggy, on delisting of non-licensed restaurants and catering establishments. In July this year, FSSAI had directed the food delivery platforms to de-list non-licensed establishments after getting consumer complaints of sub-standard food being served through e-commerce platforms.

“We had given time till end of September (to these platforms). We will review in the first week of October on the progress made on de-listing of non-licensed restaurants and catering firms,” Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said on the sidelines of the Retail India Summit and Expo. Earlier this month, Zomato said it is de-listing restaurants that are not compliant with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India regulations from its platform.

When asked how many establishments have been de-listed so far, Agarwal said: “I don’t know. We will know after the review the progress made so far”. Agarwal also challenged the retailers to find a way to continue achieving growth along with sustainable consumption. He said the food safety eco-system is being developed and the retailers need to build a culture of self compliance.

In February this year, FSSAI had operationalised guidelines for e-Commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs). It later directed Box8, Faasos, FoodCloud, Foodmingo, Foodpanda, JusFood, LimeTray, Swiggy, UberEats and Zomato to de-list non licensed eateries after consumer complaints of sub-standard food being served through e-commerce platforms.