Morning Brief Podcast: Health Hazards in your Grocery Bag
Health Hazards in your Grocery Bag
Ratna Bhushan | 21:48 Min | June 10, 2025, 7:13 AM IST
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"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
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Economic Times
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Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Medtech firms flag inflated MRPs on imported devices
Indian manufacturers of medical devices have alleged that several private hospitals and retailers, in the chase for higher margins, are pushing sales of imported products, some of which carry inflated price tags or do not mention the maximum retail price (MRP). These imported devices of established brands account for about 65% of the medical devices sold in India, according to industry sources. The matter was discussed at a recent meeting with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, industry executives told ET. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Management CXO MCA Data Science PGDM Degree Cybersecurity Technology Healthcare MBA Design Thinking Public Policy healthcare Product Management others Project Management Others Digital Marketing Operations Management Finance Artificial Intelligence Leadership Data Science Data Analytics Skills you'll gain: Duration: 11 Months IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK General Management Programme India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK GMPBE India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 Months IIM Calcutta CERT-IIMC APSPM India Starts on undefined Get Details "It has been seen that the private hospitals and retailers preferentially push imported medical devices, often labelled with inflated or absent MRPs," a senior industry executive who attended the meeting told ET. "The hospitals are doing this to earn higher trade margins compared to affordable Indian made devices." The executive did not wish to be named. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Join new Free to Play WWII MMO War Thunder War Thunder Play Now At the meeting, representatives of domestic manufacturers discussed the procurement challenges the industry is facing in this regard. "They are making higher margins and more money. The consumer would bear the brunt and, hence, this issue was discussed during the meeting. The ministry has asked the NPPA ( National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority ) to look into the matter," said another executive, requesting not to be named. Live Events Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD), said domestic manufacturers face a stiff challenge in the market from imported devices despite offering the same product at rates that are 20-40% less, "as private hospitals and retailers are preferentially pushing imported established brands of medical devices, often carrying inflated prices or at times labels even without MRPs". "Indian manufacturers are forced to hike their labelled MRP to satisfy these buyers," he said. Nath said domestic manufacturers have demanded that all import e-bills of lading should capture the import landed price as well as the MRP on the medical device, and any irrationally excessive MRP of 20 to 30 times of landed cost should be flagged for investigation for duty evasion and unfair trade practices.
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