Feb 26, 2020
From June 1, loose sweets to carry best-before dates
NEW DELHI: Before buying laddoo, sandesh or rasmalai from your neighbourhood sweet shop, you may soon be able to check the manufacturing and ‘best before’ dates of such non-packaged sweet items.
The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for sweet shops to display these details even on non-packaged or loose sweets from June 1. At present, it is mandatory to mention them on labels of packaged sweets.
The latest regulatory move comes in wake of FSSAI receiving complaints about sale of stale or expired non-packaged sweets posing potential health hazards to consumers.
“In public interest and to ensure food safety, it has been decided that in case of non-packaged/loose sweets, the container/tray holding sweets at the outlet should display the ‘date of manufacturing’ and ‘best before’ date of the product,” the food regulator said in its order.
The regulator said food business operators (FBOs) should decide and display the ‘best before’ date for non-packaged sweets depending upon the nature of the product and local conditions.
FSSAI has also issued an indicative list containing shelf life of various types of traditional sweets which can be referred to by FBOs for compliance. For instance, it recommends consumption of some items like rasgullas, badam milk, rasmalai and rajbhog within two days of manufacturing.
The regulator has asked state food safety commissioners to ensure compliance with these directions. However, traditional Indian sweet makers have expressed reservations over the order.
From June 1, ‘loose’ sweets will carry best-before date
Shops told to indicate manufacturing and expiry date of non-packaged sweets at display counters; currently rule applies only to packaged sweets
Traditional Indian sweet shops will soon be required to display the expiry dates of loose and non-packaged sweets on the display counter at their outlets. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in its latest notification, has directed mithai shops to display the manufacturing and the best-before dates for loose sweets, effective June 1.
In its order, the food safety authority said it has received complaints regarding the sale of stale and ‘expired’ sweets, which poses a “potential health hazard”.
“In public interest, and to ensure food safety, it has been decided that in the case of non-packaged/loose sweets, the container/tray holding the sweets at the outlet for sale should display ‘Date of Manufacturing’ and ‘Best Before Date’ of the product. This will be effective from June 1,2020,” it added.
Existing stipulations
Per the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, pre-packaged sweets are already required to display this information on the labels. Now, this norm is being made mandatory for loose and non-packaged sweets, too.
“The Food Business Operators shall decide and display the ‘Best Before Date’ of the sweets depending on the nature of the product and local conditions,” said the FSSAI order.
Last year, the FSSAI had issued a guidance note on traditional Indian milk products, listing out the shelf life of some of the traditional sweets. For instance, it recommends the consumption of some, such as rasgulla, badam milk, rasmalai and rajbhog, within two days of manufacture.
However, traditional Indian sweet makers have expressed concerns regarding the implementation of the FSSAI order.
Concern over implementation
Firoz H Naqvi, Director, Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM), said the directive has come as a surprise for the industry. “Only 5-10 per cent of traditional Indian sweets are packaged and the majority of them are sold in loose form. An outlet, on an average, has as many as 200 varieties of sweets to sell, which are made from different kinds of ingredients and therefore have different durations of shelf life. While we agree with the intent of this direction and that it is in consumers’ interest, implementing this norm on the ground will be very challenging,” he said.
“We will be writing to FSSAI to inform them about these challenges and hope to work towards a more practical solution in this regard,” Naqvi added.
Meanwhile, the FSSAI has directed all State Food Safety Commissioners to ensure compliance of its latest directive by all the concerned food business operators.
Sweet sellers to display ‘best before’ and manufacturing date from 1 June
- Not too pleased with the diktat, sweet shop owners are hoping to appeal to the govt against the order
- Branded sweet retailers already follow the practice for their packaged products
NEW DELHI : Your neighbourhood halwai shop will soon have to declare the manufacturing and best before date of all loose sweets available in his shop. India’s food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked local mithai and sweet shop owners to display the manufacturing date and the “best before" date on loose sweets sold in their shops in a move that will help ensure that the consumers are purchasing a fresh product.
In an order issued on Monday, FSSAI—the food regulator—has asked all mithai shops to use such labelling on the trays that carry loose sweets. “Further, in public interest and to ensure food safety, it has been directed that in case of non-packaged/loose sweets the container or tray holding sweets at the outlet should display the “date of manufacturing" and “best before date" of the said products," the order said. The order, which will be effective 1 June.
Citing instances of stale and expired sweets being sold in the market, the FSSAI said it is asking shops to comply with such labelling orders to ensure that consumption of such products does not pose a potential health hazard to the consumers.
An indicative shelf life along with a suggestive logo of various types of sweets has been given in a separate guidance note on milk products issued by the FSSAI.
“Traditional milk-based sweets are generally prepared from khoya, chhena, sugar and other ingredients such as maida, flavours and colours e.g. peda, burfi, milk cake, gulab jamun, rasgulla, rasmalai etc. Sweets have limited shelf life. Sweets particularly those with milk products have lesser shelf life and are more prone to microbial growth. Therefore sanitation and hygiene in their preparation and consumption within shelf life is of utmost importance," according to the guidance note.
“Moreover, there are issues of adulteration and use of sub-standard products," the regulator said in the noted. Concerted efforts are needed to ensure food safety of sweets by stakeholders including food businesses, consumers and regulatory authorities, the regulator said.
Not too pleased with the diktat, sweet shop owners are hoping to appeal to the government against the order they say is difficult to implement.
“We are with FSSAI, but some things are hard to implement. A lot of milk products have a limited shelf life, and some have a longer shelf life. Some shops have 200 to 300 products and it is difficult to put a label on each category because of varying shelf lives, " said Firoz H. Naqvi, managing director, Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM).
The FSNM represents interests of over 400 manufacturers of Indian sweets and namkeens including branded chains such as Haldiram’s and Bikanervala, among others. Naqvi said that the association was not consulted before publishing the order.
“We will write to the government, put out our concerns, and try and meet midway, where their concerns are met and ours too," he added.
Branded sweet retailers already follow the practice for their packaged products such as rasgulla and soan papdi.
India has thousands of traditional mithai shops that sell packaged and loose traditional delicacies.
Most sell dairy-based sweets prepared with khoya, desi ghee, along with cooking oil, refined sugar etc. Such sweets are sometimes found to be adulterated or are sold beyond their expiry dates.
Food safety commissioners of states and union territories have been directed to ensure compliance of the order.
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