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On June 10, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued an order announcing that all restaurants and food businesses will have to declare their FSSAI license or registration number on cash receipts and purchase invoices from October.
The food safety regulatory has emphasized how any credible regulatory structures depend on robust customer grievance system. It informed that in case of any irregularities, the system would help customers file complaints against eateries easily.
“If FSSAI number is not available to the customer, expecting them to complain with complete coordinates becomes an uphill task,” it continued.
According to the regulatory body, as a consequence, the complaints remained unsolved due to lack of specific information. The decision would help customers to lodge an online complaint against a particular food business using the FSSAI number.
Therefore, every food business operator will be required to obtain FSSAI license or registration prior commencing food business. A database cannot be created without a unique locator code and in case of food safety, it is the FSSAI number.
In the issued report, FSSAI stated, “Licensing and registration authorities are directed to widely publicize the policy and shall ensure its implementation mandatorily with effect from October 2, 2021”. Mentioning FSSAI numbers will also increase awareness.
It notified, “If not mentioned, it will indicate non-compliance or non-registration/licensing by the food business.”
Currently, it is mandatory to display the FSSAI registration number on packaged food labels.