Karnataka has escalated India’s scrutiny of online food marketplaces by suspending the food licences of Amazon, BigBasket and Swiggy Instamart after poisonous Datura fruits and seeds were allegedly listed and sold as food.
The August 24 order by the Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration Department is significant not merely because of the dangerous product involved, but because the regulator has acted against the platforms themselves, rather than limiting enforcement to individual sellers.
Datura, or dhatura, contains toxic compounds that can cause severe poisoning, delirium, hallucinations, coma and death. Although the plant has religious and traditional uses, its fruits and seeds are not safe for consumption as food.
Why the action matters
Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, Food Business Operators (FBOs) have a responsibility to ensure that food handled, stored, sold or distributed is safe. By suspending the platforms’ own food registrations, Karnataka is effectively questioning the long-standing argument that online marketplaces are merely intermediaries connecting consumers with third-party sellers.
That creates a potentially important legal fault line.
Digital platforms have traditionally relied on intermediary principles to distance themselves from third-party listings. But when a platform operates with a food-business registration, facilitates the sale and delivery of food and exercises control over its marketplace, regulators can argue that it carries independent food-safety obligations.
Compliance is now the immediate test
Karnataka has ordered the removal of Datura listings, advertisements and promotional material and prohibited their sale or display as food. The licences will remain suspended until further orders, with compliance reports and hearings required before revocation is considered.
The companies’ responses also highlight the regulatory challenge. BigBasket said it had stopped selling Datura and proposed a “Not for Human Consumption” label, but the department found that insufficient. Swiggy Instamart sought additional time to provide details, while Amazon reportedly did not respond during the proceedings.
Bigger implications for quick commerce
The Datura case arrives amid increasing food-safety scrutiny of quick-commerce platforms. Regulators have previously focused on expired or spoiled products, hygiene failures, labelling and licensing. Karnataka’s move goes a step further by targeting a product that is inherently poisonous when consumed.
The bigger question is whether other state regulators will adopt the same approach.
If platforms challenge the order, courts could be asked to determine where intermediary protection ends and food-business responsibility begins. For India’s rapidly expanding quick-commerce sector, that distinction could influence how platforms vet sellers, verify listings and monitor products long after they go live.
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