Upset over receiving substandard food by restaurants and vendors listed on online food-ordering platforms? Now, leading food aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, UberEats and Foodpanda have delisted 10,500 restaurants that did not have the food safety regulator’s approval, The Times of India reported.
This step has been taken after FSSAI observed that more than 30-40 per cent of food businesses listed on the online platforms do not possess a valid licence despite the companies being told to comply with the norms by July-end. In many cases, listed food businesses have recently applied for the FSSAI licence/registration but still do not possess them.
This is part of a special drive by the regulator to bring in all food businesses under the FSSAI licensing regime and ensure compliance of the food safety laws. On the other hand, FSSAI had also decided to conduct audit of online platforms of food-delivery aggregators to check if they are complying with food safety and hygiene norms. After conducting these audits, some of the online food aggregators have also come together for training and certification of supervisors of hotels and restaurants.
Last month, the FSSAI had directed leading e-commerce food service providers like Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda and UberEats to delist non-FSSAI licensed food business from their platforms by July 31 after receiving consumer complaints.
With inputs from The Times of India