New Delhi [India], June 18: The Central government primarily through food regulator, the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has taken some steps to crack down on food products selling online by enforcing the Food Safety act which requires products listed for sale online to have atleast 30% shelf life remaining. However, 1 in 2 consumers surveyed by LocalCircles still can’t find “Best Before” or expiry date information listed online as mandated in the Legal Metrology Packaged Commodity Rules 2018 amendment.
- LocalCircles writes to FSSAI again about amending act and ensuring compliance
- 48% consumers report being unable to find Best Before Date information; Only 9 percentage points improvement from 2024 to 2026
- Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Jiomart and Milk Basket all non-compliant; Only Amazon Now, Flipkart and Big Basket display best before dates
- Consumers cite hundreds of cases of near expiry date products being received
Under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Amendment Rules, 2018, all packaged human consumption products listed on e-commerce sites/apps must display clear “Best Before” or “Use By” dates, with day, month, and year, at the point of digital sale. However, since food as a subject has been governed by FSSAI, Legal Metrology has not been enforcing this clause of displaying best before date online for such products.
FSSAI, to which LocalCircles has written twice since 2024 is yet to enforce compliance by online grocery platforms. Instead, it has been trying to enforce its Food Safety Law 2020 amendment which calls for e-commerce/quick-commerce platforms having at least 30% of packaged food product’s shelf life remaining or 45 days before expiry, at the time of delivery. However, there is no way for the consumer to check the shelf life before ordering packaged foods with most of these platforms, despite it being in the PCR 2017 amendment.
Following the LocalCircles escalation in October 2024, FSSAI formally issued warnings to some quick commerce and e-commerce platforms to stop selling consumables with missing or near-expiry dates. Platforms were asked to only list products meeting the 30% or 45 day criteria or face punitive action. However, no directions were issued by FSSAI to platforms to display best before dates online on the app/website.
Some consumers have even alleged some online grocery platforms engaging in the practice of buying inventory with small shelf life left and listing it on their platform at a high discount, in violation of the 30%- or 45-day shelf life rule. One of the most common examples reported on LocalCircles is that of bread where the product delivered often has 1-2 days of shelf life remaining while the average shelf life is 5-7 days.
LocalCircles through a follow on survey has strived to find out from consumers what has been their experience of Best Before Date display compliance on online grocery platforms and whether the situation has improve since 2024. The survey received over 17,000 responses from consumers of online platforms located in 164 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 53% respondents were from tier 1, 29% from tier 2 and 18% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts.
48% Indian online grocery platforms shoppers surveyed say they still cannot find date (for human consumption products) displayed on most platforms
The survey asked consumers, “When you shopped on online grocery platforms in the last 12 months, how did you find the Best Before date (shelf life remaining) of the human consumption products (packaged food, groceries, medicines, cosmetics, etc.,) displayed online?” Out of 17,133 who responded to the question 13% stated the “Best Before date was displayed on all apps/sites”; 5% of respondents stated ““Best Before date was displayed on most apps/sites”; 21% of respondents stated “Best Before date was displayed on some apps/sites”;13% of respondents stated “Best Before date was displayed on just a apps/sites”; 35% of respondents however stated that they “could not find Best Before date on any apps/site”; and 13% of respondents did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 48% Indian online grocery platforms shoppers surveyed say they still cannot find Best Before date (for human consumption products) displayed on most platforms.
Minor improvement observed in display of best before dates by online grocery platforms; 1 in 2 consumers surveyed still can’t find it
A comparison with the study results of 2024 and this year shows that there has been minor improvement in the display of ‘Best Before’ dates by online grocery platforms as non-compliance has dipped from 57% to 48%. However, 1 in 2 consumers surveyed still can’t find it on most platforms.
Majority online platforms selling packaged foods continue to not display best before date as required under Packaged Commodity Rules Amendment 2018
Based on consumers’ complaints and LocalCircles’ study out of 8 major online grocery platforms, 5 have been found to be non-compliant with the requirement that Best Before date should be displayed on all packaged food products sold through the platform. Among those found to be compliant are Amazon Now, BigBasket, and Flipkart Minutes, while those found non-compliant are Milkbasket, JioMart, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto. Some of these platforms instead of providing a Best Before Date or a Manufacturing Date with Shelf Life, just provide Shelf Life which is meaningless as it does not tell the consumer when the product expires. Below are some examples of products sold through various online grocery platforms – some which have Best Before Date displayed and others where this information is not available.
In summary, 48% of Indian online grocery shoppers surveyed say they still cannot find Best Before date (for human consumption products) displayed on most online platforms. However, there has been minor improvement observed in display of Best Before dates by some platforms. Despite the improvement, 1 in 2 consumers surveyed still can’t find it.
LocalCircles was instrumental in the original development, implementation and compliance tracking of Legal Metrology Packaged Commodity Rules 2017 amendment as well as the modification of food safety laws from an eCommerce perspective. Following the LocalCircles survey in October 2024, which revealed an increasing number of consumers purchasing food products online being unable to see the best before date of the products, the platform had repeatedly escalated with FSSAI the need for ensuring the display of best before date for human consumption products on online platforms. Though considerable time has passed since the last submission to FSSAI in January 2026, the Best Before Date is not being displayed on online platforms for such products.
The LocalCircles submission to FSSAI said that the Food Safety and Standards Amendment Regulation 2020 should be implemented in letter and spirit with the regulator ensuring compliance. The authority should ensure that sellers/platforms must only display foods that have 30% or higher shelf life or 45 days for sale and update the law to mandate display of Best Before Dates online for all packaged food products.
Alternatively, LocalCircles had urged the authorities that in the event of FSSAI is unable to update their act in a timely manner, the clause that exempts food products in PCR 2017 amendment of legal metrology should be revoked such that consumers have this information available to them when purchasing food products online. This will ensure that just like in physical retail stores where the consumer has the benefit of seeing the expiry date of products when buying, they have the same information available when buying online.
LocalCircles plans to share the findings of this new survey with FSSAI, Legal Metrology and CCPA so the necessary changes can be made along with enforcing such that every online grocery platform complies and displays best before date for all human consumption products on their apps.
Survey Demographics
The survey received over 17,000 responses from consumers of online platforms located in 164 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 53% respondents were from tier 1, 29% from tier 2 and 18% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.
About LocalCircles
LocalCircles, India’s leading Community Social Media platform enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enables the Government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric. LocalCircles is also India’s # 1 pollster on issues of governance, public and consumer interest. More about LocalCircles can be found on http://www.localcircles.com
Media Contact: media@localcircles.com, +91-8585909866
