Best Before Date: Collector warns of action if expiry is missing on sweets trays

Aurangabad, Oct 21:

The district collector Sunil Chavan today clarified that the sellers of sweets must mention the date of expiry on sweet trays specifically. Mentioning of ''Best before two days or four days'' will not be tolerated, he stressed.

He was addressing the office-bearers of District Consumer Protection Council (DCPC) at a meeting organised at the collectorate. " The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI, New Delhi) had circulated an order stating that sweet trays should have specific mention of the final date before which the sweet has to be consumed. The DCPC members should instruct all the concerned stakeholders and ensure that all the sweet sellers implement the order in the district. Creating awareness about the same amongst the buyers as well as the sellers is needed for the hour, he said.

Meanwhile, FSSAI has not mandatory to mention the date of manufacturing the sweets, but it is up to the seller if he wishes to do so. The authority is concerned only about the date of expiry, which has to be fixed by the seller considering the ingredients or dry fruits used in preparing the sweets, storage system and geographical conditions.

" There was a wrong message going on social media. The mandatory order is still in effect. The sellers should mention the date of expiry on sweets in the form of DD/MM/YY. They should not mention best before two days or four days. It will not be allowed," said the joint commissioner (Food and Drugs Administrations) Milind Shah adding that the order is effective from October 1, 2020.

It may be noted that the best before date on non-packaged/loose sweets, container, the tray holding sweetmeats at the outlet.