Bengaluru: The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) has urged the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to prescribe minimum storage space for quick-commerce dark stores based on the number of products handled at each facility.In a letter to Union health minister J P Nadda, AICPDF proposed that the minimum floor area be calculated at 0.35–0.40 sq ft per stock-keeping unit (SKU). Under its formula, a dark store handling 65,000 SKUs would require about 23,000–26,000 sq ft.The federation said the proposed area would accommodate storage racks, aisles, receiving and dispatch operations, picking and packing, product inspection, sanitation, ventilation, pest-control access and emergency movement.AICPDF claimed many dark stores stock 60,000–70,000 SKUs in congested premises, creating risks such as unsafe stacking, poor ventilation, inadequate cleaning and pest control, and insufficient separation of food and non-food products.It also alleged that some facilities operate from inadequately insulated tin-sheet structures, where excessive heat could affect temperature-sensitive products and increase the risk of food deterioration.The federation has asked FSSAI to validate its methodology and constitute an expert committee comprising regulators, food technologists, warehousing specialists, public health experts, consumer groups and industry representatives.Citing media reports, AICPDF said Maharashtra FDA inspected 86 establishments and suspended 14 food business licences linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart. It said the reported violations involved storage, temperature control, cleanliness, pest management and worker hygiene.The federation also referred to a viral video that allegedly showed a rat inside an ice cream storage crate at a Blinkit outlet in Kalyan.“Quick commerce may promise delivery in 10 minutes, but food safety cannot operate on a 10-minute business model. Consumers should not have to become food inspectors checking dates, packaging and storage conditions,” AICPDF national president Dhairyashil H Patil said.AICPDF has sought a separate chapter governing quick-commerce dark stores under the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. It proposed that each licence specify the approved storage area and maximum SKU capacity.The federation also called for surprise inspections, temperature and humidity monitoring, digital inventory records, annual audits and penalties for exceeding approved storage capacity.
