Non-packaged sweets: FSSAI scraps expiry date provision
Food safety authority suspends directions issued in Sept 2020, to food business operators on non-packaged sweets, loose sweet containers
Setting Standards
- FSSAI’s decision not the result of any demand from food biz sector
- It arose from a technicality
- Officials realize need of scientific panel’s study on date markings on non-packaged and loose food products
The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has removed the mandatory provision of ‘best before date’ on containers and trays of non-packaged and loose sweets. Food business operators (FBOs) are no longer legally bound to mention the best before date on such food items, official sources told Bizz Buzz, adding that the FBOs may continue to mention the best before date on such eatables on a voluntary basis.
The FSSAI’s decision is not the result of any demand from the food business; it arose from a technicality. The Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labeling of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, had introduced the provision of the best before date. The 2011 regulations have been superseded by the Food Safety and Standards (Labeling and Display) Regulations, 2020.
Food authority officials, however, found the directions of the 2020 regulations need further deliberations by the scientific panel concerned regarding the date markings on non-packaged and loose food products. Therefore, the FSSAI has decided to suspend the directions issued on September 25, 2020, to FBOs regarding non-packaged sweets, loose sweet containers, and trays.
According to the 2020 regulations, ‘Best before date’ means the date which signifies the end of the period under any stated storage conditions during which the food product shall remain fully marketable and shall retain any specific qualities, for which tacit or express claims have been made, and beyond that date, the food may still be perfectly safe to consume, though, its quality may have diminished. However the product shall not be sold if at any stage the product becomes unsafe.”
The FSSAI’s mandate has been to lay down science-based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
