FSSAI Seizes 3,280 Tonnes of Food Worth Rs 82 Crore and Cancels 52 Licences in Festive-Season Drive

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India seized 3,279.57 tonnes of food it described as banned or non-compliant, valued at an estimated Rs 81.80 crore, during a nationwide inspection drive that ran from Sept. 1 to Nov. 5. The regulator announced the numbers in posts on X on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The drive was aimed at checking adulteration during the festive season, when demand for milk products, sweets and other food items rises. It was run across States and Union Territories in collaboration with State Food Safety Authorities.

The numbers

FSSAI said its teams inspected 56,431 food establishments. The enforcement tally:

• 52 licences cancelled
• 1,133 licences suspended
• 314 establishments sealed
• 10,047 improvement notices issued
• 410 prosecutions initiated

The seized goods included paneer, ghee, milk, khoya, sweets, oils, bakery items, chocolates, ice creams, namkeen, packaged foods and festive hampers. The Rs 81.80 crore figure is the regulator's estimate of value.

Lab results are incomplete

FSSAI collected 43,939 food samples. Of those, 23,648 had been analysed at the time of the announcement. Of the analysed samples, 2,273 were found non-compliant with prescribed food safety standards.

That means a large share of the samples collected had not yet been analysed when the figures were released, so the final count of non-compliant products is still open.

The gap matters for the enforcement numbers. Seizures and suspensions can happen on the spot, but prosecutions typically depend on lab findings. The 410 prosecutions initiated so far will move at the speed of that testing and of the courts.

Named companies

The wider festive-season crackdown has also reached individual businesses. At CG Foods India's Ajmer unit, the maker of Wai Wai noodles, officials seized more than 32,000 kg of stock and ordered production of certain Veg Bhujia products to stop over alleged hygiene and licensing violations. Those are allegations from the regulator.

In Delhi, the licence of Seven Seas Hospitality Pvt Ltd, associated with Hotel Seven Seas in Rohini, was suspended after an inspection that found fungus-covered vegetables, rotten food items and blackened cooking oil. Around 74 kg/litres of non-compliant food was destroyed at the premises.

In Maharashtra, the state Food and Drug Administration took action against food businesses linked to quick-commerce companies Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd, which operates Blinkit, and Zepto Ltd, as part of a special inspection drive ahead of Diwali. The licences of 105 food businesses were suspended, food products worth Rs 1.35 crore were seized, and seven establishments were ordered to stop operations.

Separately, FSSAI has issued notices to Nestle and the maker of Complan over health claims such as "2X faster growth" and "easy to digest." Notices are a first step, not a finding of violation.

This calendar year, FSSAI has also stepped up enforcement action against food business operators and e-commerce companies.

What the regulator says

FSSAI said it had made "rigorous checks on over 56,000 food establishments" and taken "decisive action against substandard practices," aimed at maintaining "uncompromising safety standards." It said it will keep working with State Food Safety Authorities to push "greater adherence to prescribed food safety standards across the food ecosystem."

What to watch

A tally of seizures and notices shows effort, not outcomes. Adulterated paneer, ghee and sweets are a standing health risk. Whether the drive changes behaviour depends on what follows the headline numbers: how many of the 410 prosecutions end in penalties, how many of the 1,133 suspended businesses are allowed back, and what the samples still awaiting analysis show.