Friday, 02 October 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
Despite the guidelines of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) directing display of best before date of the unpackaged sweets from October 1, most of the shopkeepers selling loose sweets in Dehradun did not display the date on the sweet trays in their shops.
According to a sweet seller on Sahastradhara Road, he was not aware of any such instructions and guidelines by any authority and even if he did, he considers it completely unnecessary. “People buy sweets on the basis of taste and trust. I did not see any customer mentioning or asking anything about best before date. We are in this business for over a decade and I know that it makes no difference to the customers as long as they trust the seller. It will not help the customers but it surely will give some officials an opportunity to charge some money from small shopkeepers,” stated the shopkeeper. Another sweet seller in Dalanwala stated that the best before date is always printed in the box in which they pack the loose sweets for the customers and hence, it is not required on every sweet container. Talking about this, the president of Dehradun Halwai Association and owner of Anandam Group, Anand Gupta said that as per FSSAI instructions, it is not compulsory for a sweet seller to mention manufacturing date of sweets in display besides best before date. “A seller can just mention the best before date and display of the manufacturing date of sweets is voluntary,” stated Gupta. However, most of the sweet sellers think that it is not feasible and necessary to mention the best before date in the trays holding sweets because it is already written in the box, informed Gupta. He said, ” If we mention on the tray that the certain sweets are best before a certain date and somebody comes to us one day before stating some sweets got spoiled a day before the mentioned date, what will we do? How are we supposed to know that it is the same customer with our sweets?” He added further,
“Our business runs on trust across the country and the government also understands it. Our national Halwai association is in talks with authorities regarding this matter and soon the confusion in this matter will be resolved.”
It is pertinent to mention here that FSSAI recently issued instructions that it is mandatory for every sweet seller to mention the best before date of their loose sweets from October 1. However, Dehradun district food safety officer, Ganesh Kandwal has informed that these instructions were issued in public interest to ensure food safety and to aware sweet sellers and customers about the same. For a few days, the authorities will observe the shopkeepers as it would take some time for people to be aware but if needed, necessary action will be taken too, said Kandwal.
