FSSAI: No sale of sweets without 'Expiry Date' label from Oct 1

It is quite a common thing that sweets do not come with an expiry date. However, now that is going to change. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a new order stating that sweet shop owners will now have to print the expiry date of sweets or  “best before date”.

The decision was taken on various complaints about quality and adulteration of sweets. The order will come to effect from October 1, 2020. However, it was first introduced in February. It was due to COVID-19 outbreak that the order was postponed and now it is being applicable starting October.

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What Does the Order State?

On September 25, the FSSAI made it mandatory to print “best before date” on the sweets.

The letter stated, “…In the 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 for sale should display the ‘Best Before Date’ of the product mandatorily with effect from October 1, 2020.”

As per reports, the order is only for the sale of sweets in open sweet shops in all states and Union Territories.  The expiry date of sweets will allow customers to know if the sweets are fit for consumption and if yes, when will it get expired.

What About the Date of Manufacture?

Earlier, the FSSAI said that it will also make the “date of manufacturing” mandatory. However, Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM), representing over 400 manufacturers of Indian sweets and namkeens cited their doubts about the order.

After this, the regulatory authority later changed the order to state that the date of manufacture will not have to be mentioned. Now, the question on whether the shops should write date of manufacturing has been left to the owners.

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Expiry Date of Sweets: Is This a Practical Step?

While writing expiry date of sweets does bring relief to the sweet shop owners and the customers, the step can face difficulties as it is not a practice practise, said Feroze Naqvi who is the director of Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM).

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In his interview, he said that the impracticality is there because the change of date on every sweet on a repeated manner is quite difficult.

If you want to know the shelf life of various types of sweets, visit FSSAI’s official website and get an indicative list.    

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