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.
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