Mar 16, 2020
It was not possible to show the manufacturing and best-before dates on sweets displayed on trays at shops, said the Indian mithaiwal’s. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), India’s food regulator, had directed that from May 1, not only packaged sweets but also those displayed on trays, to be picked and chosen by buyers, should bear manufacturing and best-before dates to ensure customers’ health was not compromised with.
But sweet manufacturers in the city, who have united under the banner of Paschimbanga Mistanna Byabasayee Samity, called the new rule absurd and said they would probably not follow it, as most don’t have the infrastructure to display manufacturing and best-before dates on sweets.
In Bengal, most sweets are made of chhena or cottage cheese. They expire fast, the shelf life of some being is less than 24 hours. So the question of mentioning manufacturing and expiry dates doesn’t arise. The confectioners believe that the sweet industry in Bengal is a cottage industry that runs on tradition and trust. This kind of an imposition in the name of health is absurd… All you can ask is whether the sweet is fresh or stale.”
In fact even if the bigger brands could display the dates, smaller brands would not be able to do so. The solution is that FSSAI should ensure that the mithai industry should procure healthy raw materials.
The Samity members complained FSSAI was seeking reports for the water being used to make sweets, as for years, they have been using water supplied by the corporation or municipality. And asserted that FSSAI should question the supplying authority, not those such reports would mean additional expenses that sweet manufacturers would not be able to bear.
They also complained instead to waiting to see if the manufacturers renewed their food safety licences or not by April 1, FSSAI had started imposing a fine of Rs. 100 a day on all confectioners since March 1.