‘Food items delivered online should have min 30% shelf life before expiry’ | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Any food item that is delivered online should have a minimum shelf life of 30% or 45 days before expiry at the time of delivery, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said.
For example, if a packet of butter has a shelf life of 10 days, it should have a minimum three days’ shelf life left when it is delivered to the customer by an e-commerce platform.
In cases of food items that have longer shelf life, say three or six months, the FSSAI says, a minimum 45 days of shelf life should be there at the time of delivery of the item to the customer.
The apex body for regulating food business in the country held a meeting of e-commerce food business operators on Tuesday where this mandate was highlighted and reiterated, sources said.
“There have been complaints in the recent past that food items had negligible shelf life at the time of delivery. That’s why we have reiterated to the e-commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs) to adopt practices to ensure minimum shelf life of 30 percent or 45 days before expiry at the time of delivery to the consumer,” said an official.
According to sources, Ganji Kamala V Rao, the CEO of FSSAI also cautioned the FBOs against making unsupported claims online in the meeting. He reiterated the mandate that no FBO can operate on any e-commerce platform without a valid FSSAI license or registration, emphasising the critical need for regulatory compliance.
Further, Rao clarified that any product claims made on e-commerce platforms must align with the information provided on the product labels and in adherence to FSSAI’s Labelling and Display Regulations.
Additionally, he emphasised the importance of delivering food items and non-food items separately to the consumers to avoid potential contamination.