The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) has laid down the latest norms of labelling and displaying the calorie count of dishes on their menus. However there are some eateries that skew the compliance and recently notices have been sent to them by FSSAI.
Restaurants, including some five-star hotels have been warned and those who fail to comply shall have to then shut shop.
Notices Sent To Hotels For Not Complying: FSSAI CEO
FSSAI’s CEO Arun Singhal said that “We have sent notices to top restaurants for not complying”.
The latest norms of the regulator, as per the notified in November 2020, make the restaurants with central licence mandatory, or more than 10 outlets to mention in kcal per serving and serving size the calorific value of items on their menus, boards, or booklets.
The restaurants were given last date as January 1, 2022 to comply with, this date was later extended to July 1.
However, even after deadline, many have not complied with the norms yet.
Restaurant Operators Tell Their Side of Story
To their defense, the restaurant operators have argued that the exercise is complex, and more time is needed to execute the same.
Kabir Suri, president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said that “If a brand has 150 recipes, then all of them have to be analysed. Some chains have multiple brands and each brand could have a different cuisine or menu that could vary with states”.
NRAI represents over 500,000 restaurant operators in India.
As per NRAI President, Suri added that the association is in talks with the FSSAI to seek more time to comply with the new norms.
However, specialty Restaurants chairman Anjan Chatterjee told ET that the fine dining restaurant operator has been working “diligently” on complying with the requirements. The chain, which includes Mainland China, Asia Kitchen by Mainland China, Oh! Calcutta and Sigree-Global Grill, have completed 90 per cent of the work, Chatterjee told ET.