Licenses of five Reliance and Eternal facilities suspended in Maharashtra — The Express Tribune

In India’s Maharashtra state, the licenses of five facilities linked to Reliance and Eternal have been suspended as part of an investigation into the alleged return of expired food products to sale. Three licenses concerned Reliance units, while another two concerned Eternal units, The Express Tribune reports, citing documents reviewed by Reuters.

Warehouse inspections

Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration said its inspectors visited selected warehouses of Reliance Retail, Reliance Consumer and Zomato Hyperpure. According to the agency, company representatives did not provide verifiable evidence that their contractors were actually destroying expired goods.

In case materials, the FDA alleges that companies tasked with disposal were not destroying the stock. At one Zomato Hyperpure warehouse, a company representative named a disposal contractor whom inspectors were unable to locate, the documents say.

The regulator’s version

According to Maharashtra’s FDA, major retail and quick-commerce companies handed over expired or customer-returned food packages to contractors. Those contractors, according to the investigation, transferred the goods to unlicensed sorting sites, where packages that appeared suitable were selected.

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The agency claims that such goods could then reach other sellers and consumers through intermediaries. The documents describe a possible chain from a company warehouse through a disposal contractor, an unlicensed site and a broker to a retailer and buyer.

The case also mentions officials from Reliance’s retail and consumer units, as well as Blinkit and Hyperpure units, including Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa. The food regulator filed a complaint with police. Reliance and Blinkit did not provide Reuters with immediate comment.

Maharashtra FDA chief Tukaram Mundhe told Reuters that any attempt to return expired, damaged or consumer-returned products intended for destruction to the market requires strict scrutiny and accountability.