FSSAI Urges Consumers to Report Unsafe Food Through Food Safety Connect App

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has urged consumers to actively report unsafe food, unhygienic kitchens and poor food handling practices through its Food Safety Connect mobile application as the regulator intensifies surveillance and enforcement across India's food ecosystem.

The regulator posted on X, encouraging citizens to report food safety violations on the platform, saying public participation could help identify problems faster and increase compliance among restaurants, retailers, food manufacturers, and online food delivery businesses. “Don’t just see it, report it! “Consumers are urged to use the app whenever they come across suspected food safety violations,” said FSSAI.

Also Read: FSSAI Issues Nine Notices to Swiggy Instamart Over Food Safety Complaints

Enforcement Drive:

The appeal follows a string of enforcement actions by the regulator in recent weeks. Most recently, FSSAI has issued nine notices to quick commerce platform Swiggy Instamart following several complaints from consumers on food quality, labelling and licensing.

Complaints included delivery of expired products, spoilt ready-to-eat food, rotten eggs, contaminated dairy products and damaged packaged items. Some consumers also observed that food products appeared to have degraded from substandard storage and handling practices.

The FSSAI in its investigation also raised possible licensing violations. In one case, eggs sold under the “NOICE” brand were allegedly sold under a licence that did not cover the product category. The food business operator has been directed by the regulator to obtain any necessary licence amendments, if required, before continuing sales.

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Compliance Review:

The notices also pointed out problems relating to seller verification, traceability of products, accuracy of the licence information displayed on the platform and redressal of consumer grievances. The FSSAI is looking into whether the existing systems to manage inventory, rotate stocks, storage conditions and quality monitoring are sufficient to prevent such incidents.

The regulator has asked the food business operator for a detailed report on compliance covering its food safety procedures, quality assurance processes, internal monitoring systems and corrective actions taken in response to the complaints. It also asked for details of the steps proposed to prevent future violations and warned that failure to comply may attract action under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Earlier, authorities also ordered the closure of a spice manufacturing unit in Lucknow after an inspection allegedly found adulterated materials. Samples collected during the inspection have been sent for laboratory testing.