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Amidst Indian food security and preparations for the festive season, the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department of Uttar Pradesh has issued a very strict, historic and important order keeping in mind the health and public interest of consumers. To curb the sale of adulterated, old and rotten sweets in the upcoming festival season, the Uttar Pradesh government has made a rule that from October 15 across the state, shopkeepers will have to display their ‘use by date’ i.e. the last date of consumption while selling open (non-packaged) sweets. After this strict order issued by Roshan Jacob, Secretary and Commissioner of the Food Safety Department, there has been a stir among the confectioners, sweet sellers and shopkeepers of the entire Uttar Pradesh. It is often seen that on this auspicious occasion of festivals, the demand for sweets suddenly starts skyrocketing, taking advantage of which some profiteering traders sell days old and stale sweets in the market, due to which the health of the general public is seriously affected. With the implementation of this new and strict system, not only will consumers be able to get pure and fresh sweets, but adulteration in food items will also be stopped to a great extent. Let us know in this detailed and special report what are the rules of this new order issued by Roshan Jacob and what effect it will have on the general public and shopkeepers.
Roshan Jacob’s strict order: New food safety rule will be implemented in Uttar Pradesh from October 15
Roshan Jacob, Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) in the Government of Uttar Pradesh, has given clear instructions to her department that food safety standards should be strictly followed in every district of the state. According to the new order issued in this series, from October 15 onwards, all the sweet shops, bakeries and restaurants within the limits of Uttar Pradesh will have to clearly write on the outside of the trays or boxes of open sweets displayed on their counters, till which date and time the sweets are safe to eat. Till now this rule was applicable only on packaged food items, due to which the shopkeepers used to act arbitrarily in the case of open sweets and the customers were not able to know how many days old the sweets are even if they wanted to. This bold and public-friendly step of Food Commissioner Roshan Jacob is being appreciated everywhere, because it is a big decision directly related to the health and safety of life of the common man.
Crackdown on black trade of adulteration and stale sweets will be tightened during the festive season.
As soon as the period of Diwali, Dussehra, Bhaiya Dooj and other big festivals starts in India, the demand for adulterated khoya, fake milk and sweets starts increasing rapidly in the market. In the race to earn profits, some unscrupulous traders recycle and resell months old sweets using chemicals, which when consumed cause small children and elderly people to face problems like food poisoning, stomach ache, diarrhea and severe vomiting. After this rule of ‘Use By Date’ is implemented, now no shopkeeper will be able to avoid writing this date on his tray, and if any businessman is caught ignoring the rules and selling old sweets, then the Food Department team will take strict action against him ranging from heavy fine to cancellation of license. The introduction of this system will instill confidence among the consumers that in return for the money they are spending, they are getting completely pure, fresh and safe food items.
Guidelines for shopkeepers and confectioners: How to follow this new rule?
According to the guidelines issued by the Food Safety Department, all the sweet sellers in the state will have to put up a big display board outside their shops or at the main counter, on which the major sweets made that day and the time limit for their consumption will be written in clear letters. Additionally, if a customer purchases loose sweets, the bill or bag should also contain information about when the product is edible. After this new order, meetings of sweet sellers have started in all the districts of Uttar Pradesh, in which they are being explained how to manage the stock so that they do not have to throw away old goods and they produce only fresh sweets on time. However, some small shopkeepers believe that they will have to make some changes in their working style to comply with this rule, but within the ambit of public interest and law, it is the moral responsibility of every businessman to provide safe and quality food items to his customers.
A revolutionary and far-reaching step towards health safety and food standards
This step taken by Roshan Jacob is not just an administrative order, but it is going to prove to be a huge milestone towards making the food safety system of Uttar Pradesh modern and transparent. Only when a citizen of the country goes to the market and feels completely confident about his and his family’s health, can the vision of a healthy society come true. From October 15, when this rule will be effectively implemented in the entire Uttar Pradesh, the food inspectors of the department will continuously conduct surprise raids and speed up the sampling process so that the rules are not violated at any level. Overall, this decision of the Uttar Pradesh government is fully prepared to make the sweetness of festivals more safe as well as to create a strong fear in the hearts of adulterators, on which the eyes of every conscious citizen will be fixed.
