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The Government has issued a notification to the food industry which makes it mandatory for all packed food items to carry a 'best before' deadline. The Government has decided to set September 1 as the date before the notification is implemented.
And to ensure that the 'best before' date is not tacked on later, the date has to be printed on the packaging itself. The labelling rules will be even more stringent in the case of infant foods, infant milk substitutes and packages containing aspartame. These would have to print the 'use before' date required under the PFA Rules.
'Best before' differs from the 'use before'concept indicated on some food packaging. While 'use before' indicates the last date for consumption or the date of expiry of a product, with a 'best before' date the product is still marketable, though it would not have the quality attributes normally expected of it by the consumer.
With this requirement, the onus on the freshness of a food item would rest with the manufacturer.
The Government has been trying to introduce the 'best before' concept for almost a year, but the move had met with resistance from the food industry. Among the objections voiced was that labelling was not necessary for fast-moving products and that customers would not buy their products once past the 'best before' date.
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