One-third of grocery listings on e-commerce sites show labeling issues: NatFirst Study

New Delhi: A new study conducted by NatFirst has uncovered discrepancies in product information for grocery items listed on a major Indian e-commerce platform. The analysis of 2,871 packaged grocery products revealed that over one-third (34.83%) of these items had incomplete or inaccurate labeling information, hindering consumers’ ability to make informed choices.

The NatFirst study identified various issues, such as inconsistent net weights, barcode discrepancies, and poor-quality images. Notably, 65 products were missing multiple key fields, including nutritional information, ingredient lists, and net weights. Furthermore, 232 products featured illegible images, and 139 products lacked a nutritional table altogether.

These findings are concerning given the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations that mandate comprehensive labeling for pre-packaged foods. The FSSAI recently re-operationalized the draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Amendment Regulations, 2022, which require e-commerce companies to adhere to strict labeling and display rules. These regulations include the necessity for sellers to display clear images of the principal display panels of pre-packed foods and to include their FSSAI License or Registration on the platform.

“The findings underscore an urgent need for retail intelligence solutions that enable real-time adherence to FSSAI norms in order to ensure consumer safety and transparency. It also highlights the ongoing challenge of maintaining high-quality food labelling 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”, emphasised Ravi Putrevu, Founder, NatFirst and TruthIn.

India’s packaged food market, currently the third largest globally according to Euromonitor, continues to grow. In July 2024, e-commerce grocery revenue in India exceeded INR 6,800 crore, marking a 12.1% increase from June 2024, as per the ECDB.