FSSAI makes it mandatory for sweet shops to mention packaging and expiry dates on their products. Citing the increased sale of spoiled and adulterated sweets, FSSAI issued the order.
Labeling on Sweets
The food regulator issued an order for all sweet shops to use labels on all loose and packed sweets. Further, it has asked to display ‘date of manufacturing’ and ‘best before date’ on all the trays carrying loose sweets.
The regulation will come in effect from June 1st 2020. Also, FSSAI asked the sweet shops to comply with the orders strictly. This will ensure no potential health hazard to the customers. Besides, it has directed all food safety commissioners of states and union territories to ensure compliance with rules.
Sale of Adulterated and Expired Products by Sweet Shops in India
As per Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011 only packaged sweets needed labeling till now. Sweets made from milk are more prone to bacteria and hence have a short shelf life. Also, there are many cases of adulteration and the use of substandard products in sweets. Moreover, the authorities have found stale sweets being sold to consumers. Therefore, such decisions are essential so that all the stakeholders, food businesses, consumers and regulatory authorities do their part to provide safe products.
FSSAI Concerns
The sweets shops have expressed their concern over the matter. Firoz H. Naqvi, managing director, Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM) stated that such a decision has a lot of limitations. It is not viable to put labels on 200-300 varieties of products. Besides, some products have a short shelf life while other has a long shelf life. Hence, it is difficult to create different labels for such a vast variety of products.
Narinderpal Singh, president of Halwai Association Punjab stated that it is a tough call. He stated that some items have a great shelf life and labeling them can put a wrong impact on the customer. Moreover, it would lead to mismanagement and harassment by officials. The association will write to the government regarding the issue. Though the decision favors the consumers, it poses some challenges for local sweet producers.