Diwali is a festival where celebrations remain incomplete without firecrackers, lights and sweets. No one can imagine a Diwali without the traditional sweets being bought for consumption at home or for gifting to relatives and friends. However, to prevent any health issues, it is equally important to buy these sweets from reputed shops that adhere to food safety.
‘Pure’ traditional sweets might not be so pure
Since there is an increase in demand for sweets during Diwali adulteration often raises its ugly head at this time too. The festival provides an opportunity for sweet sellers to make a profit, so some sweet shop owners could resort to adulteration or the use of substandard ingredients at the cost of consumer health. Most traditional Indian sweets contain milk, chana, khoya, flour, besan, dry fruits, vark, sugar and ghee and oil and all these ingredients that can be adulterated using unhygienic and sub-standard alternatives. Some sweet shop owners could be unaware about the raw materials being adulterated so it is always advisable for them to buy raw materials from licensed vendors.
Khoya can be adulterated
Khoya and Chhena are commonly used for the preparation of traditional sweets during Diwali but these could be adulterated with starch, fine flour, refined oil, skimmed milk powder. Ahead of the festival season the FSSAI has already taken several stringent steps in order to ensure food safety of traditional sweets. Apex Food Regulator has issued directions for placing Food Safety on Wheels (FSW) at Khoya Mandi for testing of adulteration in Khoya on the request of various traditional sweet manufacturers. These sweet manufacturers want that only khoya and similar loose products like paneer, milk chap etc. should be permitted to be sold which are free from adulteration.
So much colour
In order to make the sweets look fresh and attractive, some unscrupulous sweetmeat vendors often use non-permitted colours. Metanil yellow, is a non-permitted colour that is often used in sweets like laddu. Other non-permitted colours used in sweets, especially during festival season are rhodamine, orange II and auramine. While the use of non-permitted colours may cause health hazards what is equally of concern is the use of permitted colours beyond the maximum permitted limits. It has been observed that during festivals the use of tartrazine and sunset yellow in traditional sweets increases which can lead to health issues especially in children when consumed over a period of time. According to food regulations it is mandatory for manufacturers to specify the use of colours on their packages. However, as a consumer you must avoid buying any sweets which are brightly coloured.
Fresh ghee and oil
FSSAI has also regulated the use of oil and how often it can be re-used. FSSAI does not permit the use of vegetable oil/fat that has developed Total Polar Compounds more than 25%. Sweet shops must get the oil tested to ensure the TPC are within permissible limits so it does not have a negative impact on consumer health. Therefore, if sweet shop owners repeatedly use oil it means that the sweets have not been prepared with fresh oil of pure ghee even if the shop owners advertise so. Also, ghee can be adulterated with mashed potatoes and vanaspati and edible oil could be mixed with cheaper palmolein or mineral oil. Buying sweets from a licensed sweet shop would be wiser as such sweet shops will ensure food safety.
Unlicensed sweet shops and FSSAI measures
There are chances, especially in temporary and unlicensed sweet making units that the raw materials used in making of sweets are substandard, adulterated or even contaminated. Food Safety Department often inspects these temporary sweet making units that come up during the festive season so consumers can be assured of safe and hygienic sweets. During the festive season especially, inspections are carried out at all sweet manufacturing units to check if they are following hygienic practices and food safety regulations. Food Inspectors often collect samples from sweet producers to ensure sweets are free from contamination and adulterated ingredients.
Recently FSSAI has also mandated an audit of sweet shops for which some of the auditing criteria include an inspection of storage conditions, raw materials, food colours, etc. Hygienic ratings will include personal hygiene of the workers in the sweet shops, hand washing arrangements, condition of the shops including presence of fly screens, pest control facility including over drains. Consumers must be conscious and must buy their sweets from FSSAI licensed sweet shops so there is an assurance of quality and food safety.
Shelf life of sweets
FSSAI has also made it mandatory for sweet shops to display ‘Best Before Dates’ on the trays where lose sweets are displayed. This would assure that the sweets being sold are fresh. The FSSAI has also published a guidance document which also contains the shelf life of traditional sweets.
- Milk-based products and Bengali sweets such as Badam Milk, Rasgulla, Ras Malai etc. must to be kept in refrigerator and consumed within 2 days from date of manufacturing
- Ladoo and Khoya Sweets such as milk cake, mathura peda, plain burfi, milk burfi, pista burfi, coconut burfi etc. must be consumed within 4 days from date of manufacturing
- Sweets with ghee and dry fruits such as dry fruit ladoo, kaju katli, ghewar, sakkar para etc. may be consumed within 7 days from date of manufacturing,
Responsibilities of Food Business Operators
- The general hygiene and sanitary requirements as specified under Schedule IV of FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011 should be scrupulously complied with.
- In case of pre-packaged milk products, the list of ingredients and the date of manufacturing and best before or use by date should invariably be mentioned as prescribed under the FSS (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.
- In case of non-packaged/loose sweets, the container/tray holding the items at the outlet should display the following information: Best before or use by date.
- The record of source of dairy based products should be maintained.
- FSSAI License/Registration should be prominently displayed at the unit.
- Use of non-permitted colours and repeated use of oil should be avoided.
- For sale of savouries, sweets or other articles of food, the notice board should indicate whether articles which have been cooked in ghee, edible oil, vanaspati and other fats for the information of the consumers.
Sources:
- FSSAI
- ResearchGate
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