Food safety authorities across several states have stepped up inspections of restaurants, hotels, warehouses and food businesses following a series of complaints and alleged violations. The checks have brought major restaurant chains, quick-commerce platforms and consumer brands under scrutiny.
Among the recent cases, a rat was reportedly seen inside an ice cream freezer at a Blinkit outlet in Maharashtra's Thane, while a KFC outlet in Mangaluru faced action after a customer complained about "spoiled", "foul-smelling" chicken.
The inspections have also covered brands such as Zepto, Instamart, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Starbucks and Monginis.
Expired meat found at Karnataka hotels
In Mangaluru, food safety officials inspected a KFC outlet at City Centre mall on KS Rao Road after receiving a complaint about the chicken. The outlet's storage area was sealed following the inspection, while samples were collected and sent for testing.
Officials also found expired meat during raids at hotels in Mysuru. Around 9 kg of expired chicken was seized from the three-star Rio Meridian Hotel, while 68 kg of meat was recovered from Grand Mercure Hotel. Another four kg of mushrooms was seized from Q Star Hotel.
In Bengaluru, inspections at several luxury hotels reportedly found problems involving food storage, fungal growth on vegetables and segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
The Food Safety Wing also conducted raids at 26 hotels, including three-star and five-star properties, and seized rotten meat, chicken, fish and expired bakery products.
Maharashtra sees action against food businesses
In Thane's Kalyan, a Blinkit outlet came under inspection after a video showed rats inside an ice cream freezer at a store in the Godrej Hill area.
The Maharashtra FDA said it inspected 104 chain restaurant establishments during a special drive. Two establishments were ordered to stop operations, while 95 received improvement notices and the licences of five establishments were suspended.
In Nashik and Mumbai, 120 establishments were inspected, leading to 54 improvement notices and suspension of 11 food business licences over issues involving hygiene, storage, water, ventilation, equipment and pest control. Separate raids also resulted in the seizure of 5,343 kg of substandard dairy, oil and spices valued at ₹9.81 lakh.
FSSAI flags labelling, flavouring issues
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has also taken action over alleged violations involving product labelling and claims.
On August 2, FSSAI restricted the sale of select whisky and rum variants, including Old Monk, Royal Challenge, Antiquity Blue and Bagpiper, over alleged violations related to flavouring practices.
Consumer goods company Dabur has also faced regulatory action over products including ghee and honey and claims described as "100%" where verification was an issue.