Amazon said on Wednesday it is reviewing the findings of an Indian state’s food inspectors a day after they said they had seized mislabelled and expired food products from the US online retail giant’s warehouses.
Federal and state officials have raided clubs, restaurants and big brands such as Domino’s and McDonald’s as part of a nationwide enforcement crackdown in recent months.
Karnataka’s Food Safety and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that checks at two Amazon food storage and supply units in Bengaluru found products worth a combined $59,000 with “incorrect/inadequate” labelling or past their expiry date. The officials said they also seized medicines worth $4,232 that were stored without a valid license.
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Amazon told Reuters it is reviewing the observations from the inspection and “will take necessary steps as required”. “We have robust systems and controls designed to prevent products that do not meet applicable regulatory requirements from being listed on amazon.in or entering our fulfilment centres,” Amazon said in response to a request for comment.
An industry source told Reuters that the company is strengthening internal controls to ensure lapses do not recur.
The inspection follows another state’s regulator raid on an unrelated Mumbai warehouse where fake nutritional details and expiry dates were allegedly being added to PepsiCo, Nestle, Unilever and Coca-Cola products to make them export ready.
PepsiCo, Nestle, Unilever and Coca-Cola have not commented on the matter.
Source: Khaleej Times