The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked all licensed food manufacturers and importers to submit quarterly data on actions taken to dispose off rejected or expired food products. The Food Safety Authority said this new provision was being introduced to ensure that rejected or expired food items are not being rebranded and sold for human consumption. It noted this was sometimes being done under the guise of selling cattle feed. FSSAI said it wants to track the quantity of food disposed off in real time.  

In its latest order, the Authority said this new provision is being introduced in the FoSCoS (Food Safety Compliance System) for all FSSAI Licensed Food Manufacturers, including Repacker and Relabeller and Importers. These companies will need to give detailed information about the quantity of the food products that have failed to meet quality standards during internal testing or inspection and are rejected for sale into the market. They will also need to give information regarding the quantity of the food products that have expired or were returned from the food chain due to expiry or other quality issues. These Food Business Operators will further need to give “a detailed record of how rejected or expired products were handled, including the quantities destroyed, auctioned, or redirected for alternative uses, along with specific details of these actions such as details of buyer of auctioned products and waste disposal agency,” it added.

“This is also being done to ensure that the quantity of rejected/expired goods and the action taken with regards to disposal or auction for purpose other than the food for human consumption, can be tracked by the authority in real time,” FSSAI stated in its order.

Noting that this information will need to be submitted on the FoSCoS system on a quarterly basis, it added that FBOs should begin consolidating the required data so that it can be readily provided to the Food authority whenever required and can also be promptly uploaded once the provision is activated.

“All FSSAI Licensed Food Manufacturers [including Repacker and Relabeller] & Importers are directed to make necessary arrangements to compile and maintain the required records accurately to avoid any delays in future submissions,” the order stated.