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From July 1 onwards, food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato have to list the nutritional values and allergens of all food items to be sold from their platforms. 

According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) order, online food aggregators have been also asked to ensure that their business partners (food service establishments) that run over 10 food outlets and have annual revenue of more than INR 20 Cr have applied for a central (food) license.

Further the guidelines asked food aggregators to do the menu labeling for the food they sell online. Besides, they will also have to direct food establishments (restaurant operators) to show nutritional value such as calorie intake and allergen information on the food items that are listed on their platforms. 

According to a Mint report, Arun Singhal, chief executive of FSSAI said, “The aim is to inform people about what kind of food they are ordering online and the kind of nutritional and allergen content (present in the food).” 

At present, packaged food have labels that display nutritional information of the items. On the other hand, cooked food does not have such information. By enabling menu labeling on cooked food items, consumers will be able to make healthier choices, as per the FSSAI body. 

The media report quoted an FSSAI official saying that nutritional and allergen labeling of cooked food will vary from restaurant to restaurant. It will depend on the kind of food, how it is cooked and what kind of ingredients are being used. It will be customised. 

To enable menu labeling, the food regulatory body has commanded foodtech giants, Swiggy and Zomato to upgrade their platforms so that food business operators can add information regarding the nutritional value of food that they sell. 

The food regulatory body has also asked all regional directors to ensure that ecommerce food business aggregators (foodtech giants and food delivery platforms) are complying with the new regulations. In case, any ecommerce food business aggregators failing to adhere to the new norms, then an improvement notice will be issued to them. Despite this, if they fail to comply then their license will be cancelled. 

FSSAI is a statutory body that is led by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It was created under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 which consolidates statutes relating to food safety and regulation. 

Earlier, the food regulator had directed ecommerce food platforms to take down non-dairy and plant-based products that are classified as dairy products and sold on the respective websites. The move impacted various D2C brands including Raw Pressery, Urban Platter and Goodmylk and FMCG players such as Hershey’s and Amul.