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FSSAI to crack down on restaurants not displaying nutritional and allergen info on menu: Report
The FSSAI made it mandatory in July 2022 for certain restaurants and ecommerce food businesses to display the nutritional content, but only some declare it
Thousands of restaurants across India are expected to be adversely impacted as the government plans a crackdown on restaurant chains with 10 or more outlets yet to declare nutritional information, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed officials from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
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What is the FSSAI's regulation for restaurants about?
The FSSAI made it mandatory for restaurants with a central licence, outlets in at least ten locations, and ecommerce food business operators to label their menus, informing consumers about the food's calorific value and nutritional content.
Though the regulation came into effect in July 2022, only a limited number of restaurants are declaring it, according to the report.
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The FSSAI will be issuing notices to all the non-complying restaurants, giving them a deadline for complying, according to the report, which added that this is likely to start by this year's festive season.
How have restaurants reacted to the FSSAI's regulation?
“Many large and mid-sized restaurant chains already have manual books which detail nutritional information along with their menus, since putting out such details alongside the menus becomes unreadable,” the report quoted Sagar Daryani, vice-president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), which represents over 500,000 restaurants, as well as a founder of fast-food chain ‘Wow! Momo,’ as saying.
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“We could put out info such as fats and sugar on our menu, but an apple-to-apple comparison with a chain that sells only salads, for example, would be unfair and unrealistic,” the report quoted a senior executive at a large fast-food chain as saying. “We are a quick-service chain, and we offer certain types of foods which consumers prefer by choice.”
