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- They have already delivered: the services will be punished for bringing poor-quality ready-made food
They have already delivered: the services will be punished for bringing poor-quality ready-made food
Delivery services will be responsible for the quality of prepared food on an equal basis with suppliers. According to the proposal, they will have to check with contractors whether Rospotrebnadzor has notified them of the start of operations, the necessary permits for products and registration in the labeling and traceability system, as well as find out whether suppliers have committed violations that could affect the quality and safety of food. The Federation Council Committee on Regulations recommended that Rospotrebnadzor work on this initiative. How the new requirements will affect business and whether they will help prevent problems with substandard food is described in the Izvestia article.
Why do they want to tighten control over the sale of food
The Federation Council proposes to tighten control over the turnover of ready-made food in Russia. We are talking about extending the platform regulations that are already in effect for marketplaces to delivery services. In particular, such companies propose to require the inspection of suppliers and contractors of food products that they allow on their sites. This follows from the senators' appeal to Rospotrebnadzor, which they recommended to work out such requirements.
According to the document (Izvestia has it), companies will have to check whether contractors have notified Rospotrebnadzor about the start of their activities, registration in the labeling and traceability system, as well as product permits.
In addition, at the stage of concluding contracts, delivery services will have to find out if there are any previously identified violations in the activities of counterparties. If the transaction takes place in the presence of such violations, then the services themselves, along with the suppliers, will be responsible.
— The field of food delivery and ready meals is a market with a turnover of more than 1 trillion rubles and millions of consumers, and at the same time part of the platform economy. Therefore, it is logical that the principles of platform regulation should be fully applied in the industry. This will help strengthen control over food products and prevent possible risks for consumers," Nikolai Yezhov, a member of the Federation Council Regulations Committee, explained to Izvestia the need for stricter measures.
The next step in strengthening control should be the development of an industry memorandum that will consolidate best practices for supplier verification, product quality control and consumer protection. The document will become a tool for voluntarily improving the quality of service for all market participants, he added.
— The measures proposed by the senators are an important step to ensure the safety of citizens and to clear the market of unscrupulous manufacturers and suppliers. Delivery services and retail chains can act as a harsh filter, independently checking their counterparties and completely blocking access to orders for malicious violators and forgers," Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, who is familiar with the proposals of the parliamentarians, told Izvestia.
According to him, it is good that these principles are already being successfully implemented by a number of leading companies, proving their effectiveness in practice. Such self-regulation by key players, together with a system of sanctions and fines for violators, makes it possible to protect consumers as much as possible.
Izvestia sent a request to Rospotrebnadzor with a request to comment on the recommendations given to it. As the agency reported in early 2026, more than 60% of the 900 samples of prepared food taken in 2025 did not meet the sanitary requirements for microbiological indicators, and pathogenic microflora was found in 19 samples.
Business violations are regularly found by other regulatory authorities. So, in August, Roskachestvo conducted a study in catering establishments and delivery services and found E. coli in five brands of burgers. We are talking about BB & Burgers, The Bull, Burger Heroes, Ketch Up and Torro Grill.
Will business support the initiative
The Association of Omnichannel Retail Companies (ACORT) told Izvestia that they support this initiative, as well as all other proposals aimed at improving the quality and safety of food for consumers. As explained by the chairman of the association Stanislav Bogdanov, work is currently underway on the implementation of the rules for ensuring good neighborliness in the darkstores, however, in the future, the document plans to include provisions on requirements for suppliers and quality guarantees.
— Checking counterparties will help provide consumers with high-quality and safe products, and this approach has already been implemented in retail chains. Chains apply high standards of quality and safety in the category of ready meals, often exceeding the requirements of regulatory legal acts," he explained.
According to him, there is a multi-stage quality control system from the selection and audit of suppliers to checking expiration dates at the checkout.
Izvestia sent requests to the largest ready-to-eat food services.
"As part of a risk—based approach, Samokat was the first online retailer to use big data analysis for the most detailed audit of ready-to-eat and food suppliers," Anton Slabodyrev, head of the company's quality control department, told Izvestia. — The information system combines arrays of data from verified digital sources and generates a risk profile for each manufacturer, from basic security requirements to advanced analytics.
According to him, the basic criteria for inspections include notification of Rospotrebnadzor about the start of activities, compliance with sanitary legislation, absence of signs of violations, connection to digital accounting systems and labeling of products. Advanced analytics allows you to track the dynamics of suppliers' work and the history of interaction with inspection structures, the business representative said. He stressed that it is especially important for the service that only high-quality products are used in production.
—Common, understandable requirements for retailers and suppliers can make the market more transparent and predictable, which is primarily aimed at taking care of users," said Anton Slabodyrev.
Sergey Mironov, the public commissioner for the Moscow restaurant business, believes that control needs to be tightened, as there are many violations in ready-to-eat services today.
— Especially if it is sold through retail outlets, as it is prepared in some obscure kitchens. If there are SanPiNs in restaurants, and the establishments themselves are constantly in full view of Rospotrebnadzor, then it is very difficult to check the manufacturer," he said.
According to him, Rospotrebnadzor has already begun to develop increased requirements for such manufacturers and sellers.
Pavel Shapkin, chairman of the National Consumer Rights Protection Union, believes that it is necessary to increase control, but it will be very difficult to do so: shelf life is very important in ready-made food, but businesses are not always honestly interested in saying when a particular product was made. For example, yesterday's pizza can simply be reheated in the microwave, if the consumer ate it and did not get poisoned, then no one can prove anything, the expert notes. Therefore, according to Pavel Shapkin, control measures by Rospotrebnadzor and the inevitability of business penalties will still play an important role.
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