Maharashtra FDA suspends licences of two online food delivery facilities

Maharashtra FDA suspends licences of two online food delivery facilities The State's Food and Drug Administration suspends licences of two Blinkit facilities in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Mumbai for serious food safety violations, including expired products and poor hygiene.

Key points

• They additionally identified a 'Salisbury Caramelised Onion & Dill Dip'.
• At Blinkit's Harsul facility, FDA inspector Farid Siddiqui observed that two toilets opened directly opposite racks containing onions, potatoes and flour.
• The same refrigerated dip at the Satara facility was allegedly being stored at room temperature in Harsul as well.
• Earlier, a Zepto facility in Mumbai's Chembur was additionally suspended.
• The action comes against the backdrop of the FDA's crackdown against online food-storage and delivery facilities in the State.

Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the licences of two Blinkit facilities in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) after inspections discovered alleged cold-chain failures, expired food, poor hygiene and inadequate traceability records, among other food-safety violations. Earlier, a Zepto facility in Mumbai's Chembur was additionally suspended.

For context, the action comes against the backdrop of the FDA's crackdown against online food-storage and delivery facilities in the State.

At the High Court Colony facility in Satara, FDA inspectors Varsha Rode and Kirtika Jhade discovered cigarettes of brands including Wills, Classic and Marlboro being sold along with the food storage and online deliveries. According to the FDA, the sale of tobacco products from the food retail premises was prohibited.

They additionally identified a 'Salisbury Caramelised Onion & Dill Dip'. It required refrigeration but was stored on regular shelves at room temperature. Jars of Brajratna Cow Ghee that had crossed their 'Best Before' date were allegedly kept with regular sale stock instead of being segregated. While food products and cleaning supplies were additionally kept together, according to the FDA, vegetarian and non-vegetarian products were stored on the same shelf in cold storage.

Food-handling employees allegedly did not have annual medical check-up certificates and were working without aprons, gloves or head coverings. Purchase bills issued in the names of entities including Hyperpure, Zomato Hyperpure and Moonstone Ventures were additionally identified, but authorities remarked documents explaining their business relationship with Blinkit and product traceability were unavailable.

At Blinkit's Harsul facility, FDA inspector Farid Siddiqui observed that two toilets opened directly opposite racks containing onions, potatoes and flour. Authorities additionally documented tobacco spit stains and unhygienic conditions around the handwashing area.

For context, the same refrigerated dip at the Satara facility was allegedly being stored at room temperature in Harsul as well. They even failed to produce historical temperature-monitoring records for its cold rooms, the FDA remarked.

Broken tiles and stairs, garbage near the unloading area and the absence of rodent traps near receiving and delivery points were among other deficiencies recorded. Staff medical fitness certificates, protective clothing, drinking-water potability reports, purchase invoices and supply-chain traceability records were additionally unavailable, according to the department.

D.V. Patil, Assistant Commissioner (Food) and Licensing Authority of the FDA, ordered the immediate suspension of both licences on the ground that the violations posed a risk to public health and has prohibited Blink Commerce Private Limited, or anyone acting on its behalf, from purchasing, storing, selling or fulfilling orders through the Blinkit application from the two premises while the licences remain suspended.

This action follows the FDA's Statewide inspection drive between July 14 and August 17, where the food licence of a Zepto Limited facility in Chembur was additionally suspended after office-holders discovered hygiene, maintenance and temperature-control violations.

While frozen products were stored at minus 11°C instead of the recommended minus 18°C or below, FDA inspectors discovered non-vegetarian chilled products were at a temperature of 9°C instead of a prescribed maximum of 5°C. Inspections additionally identified missing temperature indicators and freezer-door locks, poor ventilation, flaking paint, oil-spilt floors, dust-covered exhaust fans and inadequate pest control and cleaning measures.

Notably, a potable-water test report was additionally unavailable, and the FSSAI licence was not displayed at the premises, according to the FDA.

For now, maharashtra FDA suspends licences of two online food delivery facilities remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.