Expired and mislabelled food worth ₹1.38 crore seized in Bengaluru

Bengaluru authorities have seized expired and mislabelled food products worth ₹1.38 crore and medicines valued at around ₹4 lakh during a large-scale food safety crackdown. The operation targeted several storage and dark store facilities across the city and its outskirts, including Amazon and Instamart locations, officials said.

At Leo 7 Enterprises in Lingarajapuram, officials found various food items such as nutritional products, beverages, chocolates, sweets, ghee, and nuts and seeds that were either expired or nearing expiry. Meanwhile, at the Instamart facility in Hoskote, Bengaluru Rural district, expired food products worth ₹42 lakh were seized.

Amazon's BLR6 facility at Hitech Defence and Aerospace Park in Devanahalli saw the seizure of food products worth ₹14 lakh for incorrect or inadequate labelling and expired food products worth ₹10 lakh. Similarly, at Amazon's BLR7 facility in Anekal taluk, officials seized food products worth ₹19 lakh for labelling issues and expired products worth ₹13 lakh.

The operation also uncovered medicines stored without licences. Drugs worth ₹2,45,352 were seized from one facility, and medicines valued at ₹1.57 lakh were confiscated from another. Overall, medicines worth ₹4.02 lakh stored without licences were taken into custody.

Food Safety Officers additionally seized expired products including cashew biscuits, ragi flour, chicken patties, paneer, cookies, nuts, eggs, and flour worth around ₹10,000. The owner of one facility stated that food products worth approximately ₹56 lakh were stored on the premises.

The entire crackdown resulted in the seizure of food products worth ₹33 lakh for incorrect or inadequate labelling and expired or near-expiry food products worth ₹1.05 crore. The investigation at the Instamart facility is ongoing, with expired and mislabelled products valued at around ₹1 crore still under examination, according to the department.