An investigation by Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration has uncovered the alleged resale of expired, spoiled, rejected and customer-returned food products in Thane and Pune, leading to an FIR against 10 people linked to Reliance Retail, Blinkit, Zomato Hyperpure, disposal agencies and local suppliers.
The FDA conducted coordinated raids in the two districts on October 14 and 15 and seized food stock valued at Rs 48 lakh, according to a press release cited by the Times of India. The agency has also suspended five warehouse licences operated by Reliance Consumer Products, Reliance Retail, Zomato Hyperpure and Blinkit.
The affected facilities are located in Bhiwandi, Ambernath and Khed in Pune district. The FDA also ordered two unlicensed establishments to shut down after the inspections.
According to a police complaint filed by FDA assistant commissioner Praveen Shinde, the companies allegedly routed expired, damaged and customer-returned food products through disposal agencies, middlemen and unlicensed sorting centres. The products were meant to be destroyed after disposal but were allegedly diverted for resale in the open market.
The FIR was registered at Thane’s Shanti Nagar police station. The 10 people named in the case include officials and employees associated with the companies, disposal agency operators and local suppliers. The allegations remain subject to investigation, and the FIR does not by itself establish criminal liability.
Investigators also found discrepancies in disposal documents, purchase bills and stock movement records, the report said. These records are central to establishing whether products marked for destruction were properly tracked through the supply chain or moved into commercial circulation.
The case highlights the role of warehousing and disposal networks in the urban food economy. Bhiwandi and Ambernath are important logistics and distribution locations serving the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, while Khed is part of Pune’s wider industrial and supply-chain landscape. Food products moving through such facilities can pass from manufacturers and distributors to online and offline sellers before reaching households.
The FDA action has therefore involved not only retail-facing businesses but also the less visible operators responsible for sorting, returning and disposing of stock. The alleged involvement of disposal agencies and unlicensed sorting centres has widened the investigation beyond individual outlets to the systems used to remove products from saleable inventory.
The five licence suspensions and closure directions are the immediate regulatory measures reported after the raids. The police investigation will determine the roles of the individuals named in the FIR and examine the alleged discrepancies in documentation, purchase records and stock movement.
Further action will depend on the findings of the FDA and police inquiry, including the examination of seized stock and records from the warehouses, disposal agencies and suppliers involved.
