Food regulator FSSAI to come up with stricter norms for ready-to-eat food sold in plastic wrap

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the food regulator of India under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, may soon issue guidelines on ready-to-eat food sold in plastic wrap. These guidelines will aim to ensure the sellers are maintaining the quality of food that is sold without any information on its wrapper.

According to the new guidelines, shops will have to provide customers with all information regarding the product, such as its expiration date, from where it has been sourced, and all other details that are mentioned on packaged food.

Ready-to-eat food is a food item that is pre-cooked and served without reheating. Food items such as salads, burgers, vegetable puffs, desserts, sandwiches, and others fall under the category of ready-to-eat food.

The following are the guidelines: 

-The quality of the food should be up to par.

-Shopkeepers will have to provide customers with information like the ingredients of the product, the source of the product, and the expiration date.

-The plastic wrap on the food should be food-grade.

According to the Zee Business report, the authorities are looking into creating a process that will help shopkeepers determine the best-before date of the product.

Recently, FSSAI had also taken action against Bournvita after concerns about various health claims made by food business operators, a person or company responsible for running a food business, in the country. 

In order to regulate the advertisement and claims on food products by food business operators (FBOs), FSSAI has notified a regulation, the Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements and Claims) Regulations, 2018, under which deceptive claims or advertisements are prohibited and are punishable offences under Section 53 of the FSS Act, 2006.

In reference to misleading promises made by companies, the FSSAI said any nutrient function claims and other functional claims made on food products should be based on current and relevant scientific evidence.

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