The Pune Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food safety licences of warehouses operated by Reliance Retail Limited and Blinkit Commerce Private Limited after inspections found serious deficiencies in hygiene, cold-chain management and the disposal of expired and spoiled food products.
The inspections were conducted on October 14 at Reliance Retail’s warehouse in Chakan and Blinkit’s warehouse in Nighoje, both in Khed taluka. According to the report by Sakal, the companies were unable to provide verifiable evidence showing that expired and spoiled food stocks had been disposed of properly.
The FDA action followed concerns that products marked for disposal may have been mishandled and could potentially have been brought back into the market. The report attributes the findings to the inspections and does not state that the products were definitively resold.
At the Reliance Retail warehouse in Chakan, inspectors found rodent droppings, expired and spoiled products stored together, and cockroach infestation in some areas. The inspection also recorded employees spitting within the premises. The company produced an agreement with a disposal contractor, but the FDA reportedly did not find verifiable evidence that the stock had actually been destroyed or otherwise disposed of.
The food safety licence for the Reliance Retail warehouse was consequently suspended. The inspection findings place attention on how large food-storage facilities segregate damaged and expired inventory from saleable products, and how disposal records are maintained for regulatory checks.
At Blinkit’s warehouse in Nighoje, the temperature in the cold-storage facility was found to be above five degrees Celsius. Cold-chain records were reportedly unavailable. Inspectors also found 50 kilograms of Tata Salt and 60 kilograms of semolina stored directly on the floor, along with leaking packages and signs of cockroach infestation.
The report said the warehouse had approximately 600 employees, but only five had certificates showing completion of food safety training. The FDA also found that the company could not provide evidence of the disposal of expired products. Blinkit’s food safety licence was suspended on October 15.
The action brings food-safety oversight into focus as online grocery and quick-commerce businesses increasingly depend on large urban warehouses to store and dispatch packaged food, fresh products and household goods. These facilities connect suppliers to consumers through high-volume, time-sensitive distribution systems, making storage conditions, inventory segregation and traceable disposal records important parts of the delivery chain.
The inspections covered several operational areas, including food storage, cleanliness, refrigeration and the handling of expired stock. The reported deficiencies included inadequate documentation, poor storage practices, pest-related concerns and limited evidence of staff training. The FDA’s licence suspensions mean the affected facilities face regulatory restrictions following the inspections.
The source report does not provide details of the duration of the suspensions, the value or quantity of all products held at the warehouses, or the next compliance deadlines for the two companies. It also does not state whether any consumers received the products examined during the inspections. Further action will depend on the companies’ compliance with food-safety requirements and the FDA’s subsequent proceedings.
