Uttar Pradesh sweet shops and manufacturing establishments will have to display use-by dates for sweets kept for sale or in storage from October 15, under a new requirement issued by the state Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA). The measure is intended to give consumers clearer information about the freshness and safe-consumption period of sweets, particularly items sold loose.
The FSDA said recent inspections and enforcement drives at sweet manufacturing units and retail outlets found that customers were often not given clear information about the date of manufacture or the period during which a sweet remained suitable for consumption. The absence of visible date information made it difficult for buyers to judge how long a product had been stored before purchase.
An order issued by FSDA commissioner Roshan Jacob noted that the usable life of sweets varies significantly depending on their type and composition. The department said shelf life can range from one day to 30 days across different varieties. Quality, taste and freshness can deteriorate over time, making the disclosure of a use-by date relevant to both consumer awareness and food safety.
Under the new arrangement, shops and manufacturing establishments will have to clearly display the use-by date for sweets that are displayed or stored for sale. The information is intended to show customers how long a particular sweet is considered fit for consumption before they buy it.
The requirement will have its most direct effect on loose sweets, for which the FSDA said there had previously been no explicit mandatory provision requiring sellers to display the last date by which the item should be consumed. Use-by or expiry information is already mandatory for packaged sweets under existing rules.
The move places responsibility on both manufacturers and retailers to make freshness information visible at the point of sale. For consumers, that changes the transaction from one based largely on appearance, seller assurance or customary buying patterns to one that includes a stated consumption deadline.
The FSDA said the measure is aligned with consumer protection and public-health objectives under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It cited Section 18(1)(a), which provides for the protection of human life and health and consumer interests, and Section 30(2)(d), which calls for effective and uniform implementation of food-safety standards with transparency, reliability and objectivity.
In a separate measure, Uttar Pradesh has prohibited the use of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol in milk and dairy-product processing units across the state. The FSDA did not provide further implementation details in the announcement on how the prohibition would be enforced.
The use-by date requirement for sweets is scheduled to come into effect on October 15, when shops and manufacturing establishments will be expected to display the relevant information for products kept for sale or in storage.
