Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has suggested to make lables of the packaged food items more consumer friendly and easy to understand, if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by FSSAI in this regard;
(b) whether the FSSAI proposes to launch any programme to create awareness about the information provided on packaged food items; and
(c) if so, the details thereof ?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a): The President, National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had, in a speech made on 22/12/2015, pointed out that the “best before” date on the labels of packaged food articles is confusing since it does not specify the date up to which such food articles are safe for human consumption. However, no written communication in this regard has been received by the FSSAI. The requirements for labelling of food articles are specified in the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging & Labelling) Regulations, 2011. It is the responsibility of the Food Business Operator to ensure that unsafe food articles including food articles rendered unsafe after expiry of their ‘best before’ dates are not sold to consumers.
(b) & (c): The stakeholders are educated /made aware of the food safety related issues including information on packaged food items through consumer awareness programmes. These are launched jointly by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI). These include advertisements in different media, campaigns launched by the FSSAI on social media such as Face-book, documentary films on YouTube, educational booklets, information on FSSAI website, stalls at Fairs/Melas/Events and mass awareness campaigns etc.