FSSAI asks food businesses to submit expired food data to prevent resale

India's food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, has ordered all of the country's licensed food manufacturers as well as importers to submit data of rejected and expired food items on a quarterly basis, news agency PTI reported. Apart from food manufacturers and distributors, the new rule also applies to repackers and relabellers of food items This is primarily to monitor and prevent the resale of such food items for human consumption, which is sometimes done under the guise of cattle feed, the report added. The data reporting should cover three main areas including the quantity of products failing the internal quality testing or inspection, the volume of expired or returned products from the food supply chain, as well as detailed records of the product disposal itself. So while the mandate is still applicable, the food businesses have to begin collecting data so that timely submission is possible when the reporting system becomes fully operational soon, according to the report.