- While buying sweets, you must now check the ‘Best before date’ as it has been made compulsory for the sweetmakers to mention it on the product. The new norm will be in force from October 1.
- FSSAI’s regulation will help to ensure that consumers are purchasing fresh products.
In a September 25 order, the FSSAI has made it mandatory from October 1 to write ‘Best before date’ on sweets plates in shops for the open sale of sweets, but there will be no restriction on the date for manufacturing sweets. However, it will not be mandatory to write the date of manufacture of the product, as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has left it to the will of the manufacturers.
FSSAI’s move will help to ensure that the consumers are purchasing fresh products.
It implies that the shopkeeper has to inform the customer that to what date the dessert will remain edible.
Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM) director Feroze Naqvi said that this has brought great relief to the confectioners, but will also face difficulties in writing ‘Best before date’ as it is not practical.
Naqvi told IANS over the phone from Mumbai, “FSSAI has accepted half of our point that it is no longer mandatory to write a manufacturing date. However, the best before date will be effective from October 1
We are also in talks on this. We have put our problems in front of the FSSAI.”
He said that printing the best before the date for sweets is not practical as there is a large range of sweets on which it would be difficult to change the date repeatedly. He said that the order regarding the open sale of sweets came in February, which was extended twice in the coronavirus period, but now from October 1, it has been made mandatory to write the best before date on sweets packs.
This order of FSSAI is only for the open sale of sweets. Naqvi said that this order will be applicable for unpacked sweets whereas, for food items like packaged sweets, namkeen, it is mandatory to write the period of manufacture and the date till it is best for consumption.
