What does the FSSAI rule on loose sweets say?
Every tray or container of loose sweets kept for sale at a sweet shop must show a best before date. This has applied since 1 October 2020. Writing the date of manufacture as well is allowed but voluntary.
The rule started with an FSSAI order in February 2020, issued after complaints about stale sweets being sold. That order asked for both the date of manufacture and the best before date from 1 June 2020. The deadline moved to 1 October 2020, and an order of 25 September 2020 kept only the best before date mandatory. Packed sweets in a sealed, labelled box are different: they follow the full packaged food labelling rules, including the date on the label.
How long can each kind of sweet be sold?
FSSAI does not fix one date for every sweet. The shop sets the best before date from the sweet's ingredients and local conditions. FSSAI's Guidance Note 14/2020 gives an illustrative list that most shops use as a starting point.
| Group | Consume within | Examples given by FSSAI |
|---|---|---|
| Very short | Same day, at room temperature | Kalakand and its variants (butterscotch, rose, chocolate kalakand) |
| Short | 2 days, kept in a refrigerator | Rasgulla, ras malai, rabri, cham cham, sandesh, malai roll, kheer mohan |
| Medium | 4 days | Milk cake, Mathura peda, plain and milk burfi, boondi ladoo, coconut ladoo, motichoor modak |
| Long | 7 days | Kaju katli, dry fruit ladoo, ghewar, balushahi, besan burfi, gujia, chandrakala |
| Very long | Around 30 days | Atta laddoo, besan laddoo, chana burfi, Karachi halwa, sohan halwa, gajak, chikki |
From FSSAI Guidance Note No. 14/2020 (milk products), which says it does not have the force of law. Days are counted from the date of manufacture. Your own recipe, storage and weather can mean a shorter date.
What should the tray label show?
A clear tray tag with the sweet's name, the best before date and, as FSSAI's guidance note advises, whether it is made in ghee, oil or vanaspati. Adding the date of manufacture is optional but helps your staff.
- Name of the sweet, as written on your bill.
- Best before date (for very short-life sweets, "best before: today" with the date).
- Date of manufacture (optional, but it makes the next check faster).
- Made in: desi ghee, oil or vanaspati.
- Price per kg, which most shops already show.
- Change the tag each time a fresh batch goes into the tray; never top up an old tray under an old tag.
Erasable boards or printed tags clipped to each tray work well. Many shops print the day's tags each morning so the dates are always right.
What mistakes do sweet shops make with best before dates?
The usual problems are not a missing tag but a wrong one: a date that never changes, a fresh batch mixed into an old tray, or one date written for every sweet on the counter.
- One date for the whole counter. Kalakand and besan laddoo do not last the same time. Each tray needs its own date.
- Topping up an old tray. When fresh laddoos go on top of yesterday's, the tray's date is no longer true. Empty the old stock into a separate tray first.
- Copying the guidance note blindly. The FSSAI list is illustrative. A sweet made with more milk, or kept in a hot shop without a refrigerator, may need a shorter date than the list shows.
- Dates only in the kitchen register. The rule is about the tray the customer sees, so the date has to be on the counter, not just in a notebook at the back.
- Forgetting the back stock. Trays kept in the cold room for refilling need the same tags, or staff cannot tell which to bring out first.
- No record of wastage. Sweets thrown away after their date still cost money. Write them off in your stock so the month's profit is real.
How do you manage best before dates in the Diwali rush?
Make in smaller batches more often, sell the oldest tray first and keep a written record of what was made each day. Diwali 2026 falls on 8 November, and the days before it are when most shops make large batches in advance.
- Plan by shelf life Make long-life sweets (kaju katli, besan laddoo, soan papdi boxes) earlier; make milk sweets like kalakand and rasgulla close to the sale day.
- Record each batch Write the sweet, quantity, date made and best before date in a batch register or your billing software.
- Tag every tray Put the best before date on the tray as soon as it goes on the counter.
- Sell oldest first Fill boxes from the older tray before opening a new one.
- Clear expired stock Remove sweets past their date at closing and note them as wastage, so your stock and profit stay true.
For gift boxes, the box goes out as a packed product. If you pack boxes in-house to sell later, label them like packed food. A box of sweets only is still sweets for GST at 5%.
How should a sweet shop bill sweets and record batches?
Bill sweets by weight at the price per kg with HSN 2106 at 5% GST, loose or boxed. Keep each batch's date in your stock records so the counter can see what to sell first.
| Item | HSN | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaju katli | 2106 | 0.5 kg | ₹1,200/kg | ₹600 |
| Motichoor laddoo | 2106 | 1 kg | ₹480/kg | ₹480 |
| Namkeen mixture | 2106 90 | 0.25 kg | ₹320/kg | ₹80 |
| Total (includes ₹55.24 GST) | ₹1,160 |
Illustrative prices. GST included in the price: ₹1,160 × 5 ÷ 105 = ₹55.24 (CGST ₹27.62 + SGST ₹27.62). Rates from Notification 9/2025-CT(Rate), Schedule I, S. No. 142 and 143.
See the GST rate for sweets, a ready sweet shop bill format and expiry date management (FEFO).