Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended or acted against food businesses linked to Reliance Retail, Blinkit and other operators after inspections found expired, spoiled or rejected food and inadequate records showing how such stock was disposed of.
The action followed a special drive conducted during October across establishments in Pune district, Bhiwandi, Ambernath and Navi Mumbai. The FDA said six licences were suspended with immediate effect, suspension orders were issued against two other establishments and two FIRs were registered. The combined value of stock associated with Reliance Retail’s Chakan premises and Blinkit’s Nighoje establishment was listed at ₹6.49 lakh. The release did not specify the division of that amount between the two locations.
The inspections focused on whether businesses could verify the movement of expired or rejected food from storage to lawful disposal. The FDA said a disposal-vendor agreement or invoice alone was insufficient. Records were expected to establish transport, receipt, weighment and final destruction or disposal. The agency said missing disposal records did not by themselves establish that food had been resold.
At Reliance Consumer Products Limited’s warehouse in Wadpe, Bhiwandi, inspectors recorded expired and damaged stock valued at approximately ₹4.92 lakh and found that records on quantity, transport, receipt and final disposal were incomplete. The establishment’s licence was suspended after a hearing on October 15. The FDA also suspended the licence of Reliance Retail Limited’s Wadpe warehouse on the same day, after reporting approximately 300 kg of spoiled and expired stock in a quarantine area. Documents including a final disposal certificate, vehicle details and weighment slips were not produced. The stock was valued at ₹51,264.
At Zomato Hyperpure’s facility in Usatane, Ambernath, inspectors recorded 5,431 spoiled, expired or rejected products weighing approximately 9,590 kg and valued at ₹7.81 lakh. The FDA also reported hygiene, cold-chain and vehicle-related deficiencies. The licence was suspended on October 15 following a hearing.
At Blink Commerce’s warehouse in Pagaon village, Bhiwandi, the FDA said around 18,405 expired and spoiled food items valued at ₹32.72 lakh were found. Although a representative referred to agreements with disposal agencies, the agency said transport, weighment, receipt and final-disposal records were incomplete. The licence was suspended on October 22, and an FIR was registered at Bhiwandi Taluka Police Station on October 23.
Cloudstore Retail at One K-Square Park near the Padgha toll naka in Bhiwandi was also dealt with after inspectors recorded 7,566 items of expired, spoiled and rejected food worth ₹6.88 lakh. Its licence was suspended on October 26, and an FIR was registered at Padgha Police Station the same day.
The FDA’s wider action included the seizure of approximately 91,353 kg of food worth ₹4.13 crore at Sawla Foods and Cold Storage in Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, on October 24 and 25. The stock included about 17,144 kg identified as expired, along with unlabelled and defectively labelled products. Officials drew 32 samples for analysis and suspended the establishment’s licence.
At Discount Store on Naigaon Road in Bhiwandi, inspectors seized expired, spoiled and leaking food valued at approximately ₹80,575. At a premises operated by Gulzar Abdul Mubin Khan in Chavindra, about 429 kg of spoiled, expired or damaged food worth ₹86,825 was recorded. The FDA said the premises lacked valid registration or a licence and issued stop-business directions.
The agency said verification was continuing at B. K. Dispose in Khoni and Kamba village over the source, quantity and actual disposal of goods. It said any criminal liability would be determined through investigation and the judicial process, while the licence suspensions were preventive regulatory measures.
