Health Hazards in your Grocery Bag

What Really Happens Inside Dark Stores

Quick Commerce Grows, Controls Shrink

Franchise Share in Dark Stores Rising Fast

Missing SOPs in Quick Commerce Chains

No SOP Sync Between Brands and Platforms

What is the regulatory gap?

Are Quick Commerce Players Acting on Safety?

Is FMCG Pushing Back? Can This Be Fixed Soon?

Bad Storage Can Trigger GI Issues, Vomiting

How Consumers Can Spot Unsafe Products

From Labels to Spices, Safety Still Lacking

Conclusion

Credits

A bottle of mango lassi, neatly sealed and within its expiry date, erupts like a shaken soda—over-fermented and undrinkable. Delivered in 10 minutes from a quick commerce dark store, it should’ve been safe. But it wasn’t. And it isn’t an isolated case. As India’s quick commerce boom races ahead with 10-minute deliveries, dark stores—those invisible micro-warehouses powering your convenience—are quietly falling short on food safety. From broken packaging and stale bread to near-expiry edible oils and infestations, hygiene violations are slipping through the cracks. With fragmented regulations and overstretched operations, are we walking blind into a public health risk? Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks to ET’s Ratna Bhushan and Dr Arun Gupta, convenor, Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest, about the systemic hygiene failures inside dark stores, the medical risks of spoiled food, and whether consumer convenience is quietly compromising our safety.

Tune in:

Credits: kubbrasait

You can follow Ratna Bhushan on her Linkedin, Twitter profiles and read her Newspaper Articles. 

 You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: Twitter and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like: Tariffs trump trade, The Curious Case of IndusInd Bank, The Influencer Economy’s Quiet Reset, India’s Biggest Hospital has a Chronic Illness and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on ET Play, The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

A bottle of mango lassi, neatly sealed and within its expiry date, erupts like a shaken soda&mdash;over-fermented and undrinkable. Delivered in 10 minutes from a quick commerce dark store, it should&rsquo;ve been safe. But it wasn&rsquo;t. And it isn&rsquo;t an isolated case. As India&rsquo;s quick commerce boom races ahead with 10-minute deliveries, dark stores&mdash;those invisible micro-warehouses powering your convenience&mdash;are quietly falling short on food safety. From broken packaging and stale bread to near-expiry edible oils and infestations, hygiene violations are slipping through the cracks. With fragmented regulations and overstretched operations, are we walking blind into a public health risk? Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks to ET&rsquo;s Ratna Bhushan and Dr Arun Gupta, convenor, Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest, about the systemic hygiene failures inside dark stores, the medical risks of spoiled food, and whether consumer convenience is quietly compromising our safety.
Tune in: Credits: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKTyc6pNHDB/?igsh=MWVuYjN3eXF6Y3F1aA">kubbrasait</a> You can follow Ratna Bhushan on her <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ratna-bhushan/">Linkedin</a>, <a href="https://x.com/ratnabhushanET">Twitter</a> profiles and read her <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/etreporter/author-ratna-bhushan-11974.cms?from=mdr">Newspaper Articles.&nbsp;</a>
&nbsp;You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: <a href="https://twitter.com/AnirbanET">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirban-chowdhury-b5067219/">Linkedin </a>Check out other interesting episodes from the host like: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000702130670">Tariffs trump trade</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000701174049">The Curious Case of IndusInd Bank</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000701977001">The Influencer Economy&rsquo;s Quiet Reset</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000700201610">India&rsquo;s Biggest Hospital has a Chronic Illness</a> and <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777">much more</a>.
Catch the latest episode of &lsquo;The Morning Brief&rsquo; on <a href="https://www.etplay.com/etplay">ET Play</a>, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/podcast?from=mdr">The Economic Times Online</a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6PL5kfPbwURBEu6fHCVTOL?si=26ec0fbfa7134fea"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows/the-morning-brief/1/GNPiFQD2xpY_">JioSaavn</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.in/podcasts/f378141f-9afb-495d-83da-9b08ec5047ac/the-morning-brief">Amazon Music</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@theetpodcasts">Youtube</a>.

To make sense of the week’s hottest stories in business, economy, politics and markets, journalists from the Economic Times chat with reporters and industry leaders in this thrice-weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) podcast.

The Morning Brief