Over one-third of grocery products listed on a major e-commerce platform have information discrepancies: Study

The study identified several discrepancies, including varying net weights, inconsistent barcodes, and poor-quality images

Bangalore: As many as 34.83% of grocery products (approximately 1,000 products) listed on a major e-commerce platform have incomplete or inaccurate information, according to a study by health and retail tech platform Natfirst.

The study analyzed 2,871 grocery products listed on the platform.

It identified several discrepancies, including varying net weights, inconsistent barcodes, and poor-quality images. Specifically, 65 products were missing multiple key labeling elements such as nutritional table, ingredients, and net weight, 232 products featured illegible images, and 139 products lacked a nutritional table overall.

In response, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recently reactivated the draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Amendment Regulations, 2022.

According to the FSSAI, e-commerce companies are now required to follow specific labeling and display standards for food products. This includes providing a clear image of the principal display panel of pre-packed foods and displaying their FSSAI License or Registration on the platform. Additionally, food products can be sampled at any point in the supply chain.

“The findings underscore an urgent need for retail intelligence solutions that enable real-time adherence to FSSAI’s norms in order to ensure consumer safety and transparency,” said Ravi Putrevu, founder of Natfirst.

“It also highlights the ongoing challenge of maintaining high-quality food labeling standards with millions of products being sold each month across diverse sales platforms, reinforcing the need for regulatory compliance in both domestic as well as international markets,” he added.