Bengaluru woman's 'datura as Swiggy freebie' video resurfaces amid FDA crackdown

A woman from Bengaluru shared a clip of her receiving datura fruit as a Swiggy Instamart freebie. The clip resurfaced as Karnataka suspended food licences over the online sale of the poisonous fruit.A Bengaluru woman's video about datura fruit freebies with Swiggy Instamart has gone viral. (Photos: Instagram/k_moos7)A Bengaluru woman’s account of receiving poisonous datura fruits as a freebie with a Swiggy Instamart order has resurfaced online amid Karnataka’s action against the sale of the toxic fruit on e-commerce platforms. The state’s Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FDA) has ordered the suspension of food licences issued to Amazon, Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket until further orders. The incident dates back to August 11, when Bengaluru resident K Syeda Moosavi shared a video on Instagram showing the fruits she claimed to have received with her Instamart order.At first, she assumed they were simply another promotional freebie, the kind that quick-commerce platforms occasionally add to orders. It was only after looking them up online that she realised what she had received was extremely dangerous. “So, I just received this from Swiggy as a freebie. It is the datura fruits,” Moosavi said in the video.She then questioned how something potentially poisonous had ended up being given to a customer without a clear warning. “It's a very toxic, highly, highly toxic fruit, and it can lead to a coma or even death if consumed,” she said, adding that she found information stating that consuming the fruit or its seeds could have severe consequences.What appeared to trouble her most was the absence of any obvious indication that the item was not meant for consumption.“It may be common knowledge and somebody like me would Google anything for that matter before consuming. But this is not okay. This does not feel right, guys,” she said.Watch the video here:Moosavi later shared an update saying a Swiggy employee had contacted her after she posted about the incident on X. She said the employee acknowledged that the issue was “dangerous and problematic”, advised her not to touch the fruit and said the matter had been escalated for investigation.The video resurfaced amid wider food-safety action in Karnataka. A departmental probe found Datura fruits and seeds being offered on Amazon, Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket as products for human consumption. Some packets were also found carrying food licences or registration numbers. The FDA has now directed the platforms to remove listings and advertisements offering Datura for human consumption and stop its sale and distribution as food. The licences and registrations of suppliers linked to the platforms have also been ordered suspended.- EndsPublished By: Srimoyee ChowdhuryPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 12:40 IST