Jaipur food safety raids find expired, damaged food at Blinkit, Zepto

Food safety teams inspected Blinkit and Zepto dark stores in Jaipur and found expired and improperly stored food items. The action led to on-site destruction, sample collection and directions to fix hygiene and storage lapses.

In Short

• Officials destroyed about 2,350 dairy packets during inspections at both facilities
• Zepto's Jagatpura outlet stored milk products at unsafe six-to-14-degree temperatures
• Inspectors also found expired muesli, candy, bhujia and not-for-sale damaged stock

A food safety department crackdown on dark stores operated by quick-commerce platforms Blinkit and Zepto in Jaipur uncovered large quantities of expired, damaged and improperly stored food products, prompting officials to destroy thousands of dairy packets and collect samples for laboratory testing.

The raids were carried out by a central team of the Food Safety Department at the companies' dark stores, which serve as fulfilment hubs for rapid home deliveries. Officials said around 2,350 packets of dairy products, along with a large quantity of spoiled food items, were destroyed on the spot during the inspections.

At Zepto's dark store in Jagatpura, inspectors found around 1,550 packets of milk, curd and buttermilk that were not being stored at the prescribed temperature. According to officials, dairy products must be maintained within specified temperature limits to ensure safety, but refrigeration units at the facility were found operating between 6 and 14 degrees Celsius.

As a result, around 1,550 packets of Saras and Amul dairy products were destroyed. Inspectors also found 7 kg of expired food items, including muesli, candy and bhujia. In addition, nearly 100 kg of damaged food products marked "Not for Sale" were removed and destroyed.

The inspection team also observed stains of pan masala and zarda spit around the dark store and cold room areas. Officials directed the store management to immediately improve hygiene and storage practices. Samples of peanut butter and honey were collected in the presence of the store manager and sent to a central laboratory for testing.

According to officials, the Jagatpura facility handles around 500 deliveries every day.

The team later inspected a Blinkit dark store in Adarsh Nagar, where it found around 800 packets of dairy products along with significant quantities of damaged and expired food items.

Officials said the most alarming finding at the facility was the temperature inside its cold storage unit, which was recorded at around 32 degrees Celsius. Dairy and other perishable products require storage at much lower temperatures to remain safe for consumption.

During the inspection, officials found damaged or expired stocks including 24 packets of Amul butter, 60 bottles of Bombay Banta juice, 11 pouches of low-fat milk, Tropicana juice, cow ghee and around 1,400 ml of Amul toned milk. All such products were destroyed on site.

The Food Safety Department also collected samples of milk, food-grade ghee and Paper Boat carbonated water from the Blinkit facility for laboratory analysis. Officials said the test reports would provide further clarity on the quality of the products.

Food Safety Commissioner Avichal Chaturvedi said that during the inspection of a warehouse operated by M/s JDS Marketing in Ramnagariya Extension, officials found that prescribed temperature standards for the safe storage of dairy products were not being followed in the cold room and deep freezer.

The department directed the immediate removal and destruction of spoiled and expired food products and instructed the operators concerned to rectify storage and hygiene deficiencies.

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