Crusading India state food safety chief targets Eternal, Swiggy, Zepto in sweeping crackdown

Business Recorder, drawing on a Reuters report, says Maharashtra's food safety chief has temporarily halted permits for 12 warehouses run by grocery platforms Eternal, Swiggy and Zepto. Inspectors reportedly found cockroaches and other unhygienic conditions at the sites. The state Food and Drug Administration said five of the affected facilities belong to Eternal's Blinkit, five to Zepto and two to Swiggy's Instamart.

The crackdown follows the closure of four Domino's outlets earlier this week, a chain widely viewed as having stricter safety protocols. Tukaram Mundhe, 51, the state's new food safety head, had earlier shut some of Mumbai's best known eateries over poor hygiene. Contamination reports are routine across India's food sector, yet enforcement has historically been weak, which is why his campaign has drawn wide public and media interest.

The state regulator said it inspected 86 establishments and issued 60 improvement notices in the latest drive. Photos it released showed rusted storage racks and cockroaches near food items, while staff at a Zepto site in Nashik were walking into storage areas in street footwear. Swiggy and Eternal declined to comment, and Zepto did not reply to Reuters. The $13 billion quick commerce sector has attracted billions of dollars in foreign capital, with companies handling about 9 million orders a day.