Written by FBOs to mention FSSAI Licence No. on Invoice / Bills from Oct 1st, 2021
Come 1st October 2021 Food Business Operators (FBO) to mention FSSAI License or Registration number on every invoice.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for the FBO’s to declare the 14-digit FSSAI License or Registration number on cash receipts/purchase invoices/cash memo /bills etc.
As per the order dated 8th June 2021, FSSAI mentioned that declaration of the License or Registration number will facilitate the consumers to complain about any grievance with the FBO. Since complaints remain unresolved due to lack of specific information, this move will help consumers who can lodge an online complaint against a particular food business using the FSSAI number.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a latest order in this regard 8th June 2021 which can be downloaded here.
Licensing and Registration Authorities are directed to widely publicise the policy and shall ensure its implementation mandatorily with effect from October 2, 2021, the FSSAI order says
Mentioning of FSSAI number shall also improve the overall awareness, the Regulator said. If not mentioned, it will indicate non-compliance or non registration/licensing by the food business.
Stating that the food business ecosystem is large, the regulator said 14-digit FSSAI number of any food business operator is not “easily visible and available on consumer/service recipient.”
If the FSSAI number is not available to consumers, expecting him to complain with complete coordinates is an uphill task. Even regulators find it difficult to trace the origin of complaint and attend to it promptly.
No database can be created without a unique locator code, which in case of food safety is the FSSAI number.
Presently, FSSAI number is compulsory to be displayed on packaged food labels but the issue lies especially in case of establishments such as restaurants, mithai shops, caterers, even retail stores.
Further, the regulator said that it is amending the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses Regulations to mandate display of ‘food safety display boards’ at all times at prominent places in case of restaurants.
However, there remains a deficit of mechanism for consumer to know the FSSAI number of the service/product provider.
In case of pre-packaged food where the manufacturer’s FSSAI number is printed on the pack, there exist a deficit of track and trace mechanism whereby the path of the package from a manufacturer to consumer can be traced. The invoice helps establishing this trail. With mentioning of the FSSAI number will help in improving traceability for food products, the regulator added.