Items with Future Packaging Dates Found in Zomato Warehouse
Zomato's Hyperpure warehouse in Hyderabad faced a food safety inspection after fake mushroom packaging dates were found.
Zomato's food supply chain company, Hyperpure, came under scrutiny following an inspection by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) at its warehouse in Kukatpally, Hyderabad. The inspection revealed some serious food safety and hygiene violations, raising concerns about the company's practices.
The most alarming discovery was the presence of 18 kilos of button mushrooms (90 packets) with a future packaging date of 30th October 2024—a date that had not yet passed. This raised suspicions that Zomato Hyperpure might have been selling older stock with fake packaging dates. This kind of practice could potentially mislead consumers into buying expired or near-expiry food products.
Although the warehouse was found to have the necessary license, medical fitness certificates for food handlers, and pest control records, the inspection also found several hygiene lapses. One of the biggest issues was the lack of insect-proof screens, which led to houseflies being seen inside the warehouse. Furthermore, many food handlers were found working without the required haircaps and aprons, violating basic hygiene standards.
The incident has sparked public concern over food safety practices, especially in large food delivery networks like Zomato, which plays a major role in supplying products to hotels, restaurants, and caterers across the country.
On 4th November 2024, Zomato's CEO Deepinder Goyal addressed the controversy on social media. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Goyal acknowledged the mistake but defended the company’s actions. He explained that the batch of mushrooms in question had already been identified and rejected during the inward quality check (QC) process by their warehouse team.
He also clarified that the issue was caused by a typing error by the vendor and that such mistakes were rare. Goyal pointed out that the batch of mushrooms, worth around ?7,200, would never have been sold to customers.
“We have recently undergone a thorough inspection, and our warehouses received an A+ rating for food safety," Goyal said in his post. "So why is the media focusing on just this small batch of mushrooms, when there are crores of items in the warehouse?" he added.
As part of the company’s response, Zomato has already removed the vendor responsible for the mistake from its list. Goyal assured the public that the company is committed to following strict food safety rules and maintaining the highest quality standards throughout the supply chain.
Despite the CEO's explanation, the incident has raised questions about how food safety is maintained at such large scale warehouses and the importance of ongoing checks to prevent such errors from happening in the future.
For those who missed it, ISH News had previously reported a similar issue in Hyderabad, where the Telangana Food Safety Department found food safety violations at a Blinkit warehouse. You can watch that report here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ2dfJ1EGNY
As of now, it remains to be seen how Zomato and other food delivery services will enhance their quality control measures in light of this issue. Given the growing concerns around food safety, consumers and regulatory bodies will likely continue to monitor the situation closely.
