Govt. wants to bring more transparency in packaged food business
Govt. wants to bring more transparency in packaged food business

Government of India is planning to bring in more transparency in packaged food business. The government has been working to scout new rules that will force the manufacturers to ensure that the details on the packaged food items are more visible and readable to the customers.

As per the sources, Indian government is aiming to amend the 2011 commodities packaging rules hence, making the entire business cycle more translucent for the customers. Recently, the Consumer Affairs Ministry has been conducting several meetings and discussion rounds to bring in required changes in Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011. The ministry has taken the decision after it found that few companies are not preparing their products as per the guidelines set by it. Apart from that, few companies and people have also suggested the ministry to bring in the aforementioned move.

Elaborating further, senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official stated that rule seven specifies about the font size of the declaration but most companies do not follow strictly. In smaller packs, the font size is too small for consumers to read. So, ministry has decided to adopt the US standard on font size.

Right now, the font size of the declaration such as name, address, net commodity, date of manufacturing and retail price -- is less than 1 mm. The US follows 1.6 mm size. But government is planning to keep 1.5 mm for a pack of 200 grams/ml.

The font size for a packed food item containing more than 200 grams/ml up to 500 grams/ml would be increased from 2 mm to 4 mm and for above 500 grams/ml, the font size would be doubled to 8 mm, he said.

Apart from bringing in the changes, ministry is also planning to introduce a special marking system which will help the customers to identify that the item is manufactured in India or abroad. Besides providing the manufacturing details, the system will also help the government to put a check on fake food item sale in the company. 

 
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