FSSAI seeks quarterly data on expired and rejected food items
To ensure that rejected and expired food items are not being rebranded and sold for public consumption, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed all licensed food manufacturers and importers to submit quarterly data on such foodstuffs, through an online portal.
The latest provision issued on December 16 applies to licensed food manufacturers and importers. As per the FSSAI, the latest directive covers three key areas – quantity of products failing internal quality testing or inspection; volume of expired or returned products from the food supply chain; and detailed records of product disposal, including destruction, auction, or alternative use, with specific buyer and waste disposal agency information.
The food regulator said the information should be submitted through the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) system on a quarterly basis. “’The provision for submitting such data will be activated in due course. In the meantime, food business operators (FBOs) are requested to begin consolidating the required data for the various categories. This will ensure that the data can be readily provided to the food authority whenever required and can also be promptly uploaded once the provision is activated,’’ it noted.
This is also being done to ensure that the quantity of rejected/expired goods and the action thereon viz., disposal or auctioned for purpose other than for human consumption, can be tracked by the authority in real-time, said the FSSAI in its letter.
It added that all FSSAI licensed food manufacturers (including repacker and relabeller) and importers are directed to make necessary arrangements to compile and maintain the required records accurately to avoid any delays in future submissions.
Published - December 20, 2024 08:23 pm IST
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