All sweet makers in the country will now have to display 'Best Before Date' on their products from October 1. According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), all shopkeepers who make sweets will have to mandatorily inform the customers until what date their sweets will remain edible.
"In case of non-packaged/loose sweets, the container/tray holding sweets at the outlet for sale should display the 'Best Before Date' of the product mandatorily with effect from October 1," FSSAI said in its order.
The food safety authority's decision will help to ensure that consumers are purchasing fresh products. However, writing "manufacturing date" is not mandatory as the FSSAI has left it to the will of the manufacturers.
"The FBOs may also display the 'Date of Manufacturing' which shall be purely voluntary and non-binding," FSSAI added.
The FSSAI has issued an indicative list of shelf life of various types of sweets in "Guidance Note on the safety of traditional milk products".
As per the FSSAI, sweets like Kalakand and its variants such as Butterscotch Kalakand, Rose Kalakand, Chocolate Kalakand have a very short life and must be consumed on the date of manufacturing.
Bengali sweets like, Rasgulla, Pakiza, Gur Rabri, Sandesh, Malai roll, etc can be kept in the refrigerator and consumed within two days from the date of manufacturing.
Laddoos and khoya sweets such as Milk Cake, Chocolate Burfi, Boondi Laddoo, Peda, Coconut Laddoo, Motichoor Modak etc can be consumed within four days from the date of manufacturing.
Sweets like Kaju Katli, Ghewar, Sakkar Para, Chandrakala, Kaju Kaser barfi, Besan Burfi, Moti Boondi Laddoo, dry fruit Gujia among others have a very long shelf life and can be consumed within seven days of manufacturing.
Sweets like Chikkis, Sohan Halwa, Chana Burfi, Chana Laddoo, and Karachi Halwa can be consumed within one month from manufacturing date, FSSAI said.
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