India News | FSSAI Suspends Licences of 15 Food Business Operators for Not Displaying Nutritional Value

New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) Food regulator FSSAI has suspended licences of about 15 food business operators for not complying with its regulations related to display of nutritional value in their menus.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had come out with labelling and display regulations in 2020 for food service establishments. It became effective from July 1 this year.

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As per these regulations, food service establishments having central licence or outlets at 10 or more locations are required to mention the calorific value (in kcal per serving and serving size) against the food items displayed on the menu cards or boards or booklets. They need to provide information related to nutrition, allergen and ingredients, among others.

According to sources, the FSSAI has suspended licences of 16 food business operators (FBOs) who did not comply with the regulations. Around 70 FBOs have sought time for compliance.

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"We nudged them towards self compliance...And as a result most have complied or have sought some more time. Further those who have shown no sign of improvement or responsibility have been dealt sternly by suspending their license," a FSSAI official said.

Further, the regulations also stipulate that e-commerce FBOs should get the requisite nutritional information from respective food business operators and provide on their website wherever applicable.

Menu labelling will apply to food service establishments having central licence; outlets at ten or more locations; e-commerce FBOs selling food products of those mandated for declaration under menu labelling for such foods. Event caterers and food service premises that operate for less than sixty days in a calendar year (consecutively or non-consecutively) are exempted from the scope of these regulations.

In June this year, FSSAI had asked online food platforms like Swiggy and Zomato to ensure compliance by food service establishments from July 1.

In a letter to all e-commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs), FSSAI had asked them to make provisions in their platforms, including mobile apps, for display of calorific value and information related to nutrition and allergen. This would enable FBOs to feed the data on online platforms.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)