The Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FDA) has taken strong action against the top e-commerce and quick-commerce companies selling poisonous Datura (Dhatura) fruits and seeds to consumers, which is illegal and will not be permitted through them and will not be approved for sale to stores in India in terms of food and beverage use in India. The department has also suspended food licences of Amazon, Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket until further notice.
That was after the Datura fruit and seeds were listed, stored and sold through online platforms as food products, they said. Datura products with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) registration or licence numbers were found in the packages, they said. “Datura is a very toxic plant and fruits and seeds can be very harmful for humans if consumed,” the FDA said. They said it was a serious breach of food safety regulations since the products were being marketed and distributed for consumption.
Datura is known for its powerful alkaloids that can lead to hallucinations, disorientation, poisoning and life-threatening complications. Health experts have long warned against the consumption of any part of the plant. Karnataka food safety officials said collecting, selling, distributing or advertising Datura is not OK because it is poisonous and could be dangerous for consumers.
The issue was heard before the adjudicating authority and the companies involved were asked to explain their position. Amazon didn't respond to the notice, the department found. Swiggy Instamart needed more time to provide documents on what it had done with the listings. BigBasket said it stopped selling Datura products and planned to change the listings in the future to be more honest about the fact that they were “not for human consumption.” But the FDA found that the responses were inadequate in light of the serious nature of the issue and the possible risks involved.
As part of the enforcement process, the department has asked all three platforms to immediately remove all Datura-related listings and advertisements from their sites and applications. It has also instructed them to stop selling, distributing, displaying, or promoting Datura fruits and seeds as food products. The licences and registrations of suppliers and vendors that sell Datura products to these platforms have also been suspended and the investigation is ongoing.
The suspension will continue until companies provide compliance reports and comply with the requirements. A separate licence restoration order will be issued only after it has reviewed the responses and spoken with all concerned parties, a Department statement said. Violation of the suspension order could also lead to further enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and regulations.
The development highlights growing scrutiny of products sold through e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, particularly food items. Now that online grocery shopping is surging in India, regulators are more and more concerned that what they are selling to consumers does not harm public health. Karnataka does not want to give digital marketplaces, which sell products directly through their website, time to verify whether or not the product is safe and therefore the food safety requirements have not been met.
