A practical guide on how to file a complaint against a sweet shop

Unsure about the quality of the sweets you bought? You can complain- and save many from having bad food!

Food adulteration becomes common during the festive season. Due to high demand, sweet shops often end up selling unhealthy mithai. Even though the health department, Food & Supply department and other officials conduct regular inspections on sweet shops, many stocks of food may go unchecked. If you have had a bitter experience with sweets, you can take action.

• Khoya or mawa, milk-based products that are used in making sweets may contain unhealthy substances like starch, paper, urea, soda or even chalk powder.
• Kaju katli may have no cashews but a lesser substitute.
• Sweets adorned with silver varq or foil may have aluminum.

It is your right to be served with healthy and fresh food. The government has banned all kinds of harmful ingredients from being used in the preparation of food. A violation of this may invite a penalty of up to Rs 5 lakhs or a minimum of 3 years in jail.

How to complain against a sweet shop?

To file a sweet shop complaint, you can choose from any of the given options:

1. Complain to the sweet shop– The best way to lodge your grievance is by taking up the issue directly with the seller. Confrontation will help you in finding out the root cause of your issue. It may be possible that the seller was not at fault. Be polite about your claim, show your receipts and wait for the seller to take the right action.
2. Complain to food & supply department– For this, you need to locate the food & supply inspector of your area. Such an officer will acknowledge your complaint and take necessary action. This means that the food inspector may conduct a raid, collect samples, seal the sweet shop, or conduct safety audits. If the food is found to be adulterated, the shop will be sealed and the owner will be put in jail.
3. Complain to Resolver, for free– Resolver can help you file a sweet shop complaint within minutes. You can choose the business, write the details of your issue and voila! Your complaint will reach the right people within seconds. If the business is not listed with Resolver, you can simply make a suggestion to get it added.

Must Read: How to get a refund for an online food order?

Additional steps you can take to secure your consumer rights

While buying sweets, make sure that the shopkeeper doesn’t weigh it with the box. Additionally, if a box has been prepared already, it must display a printed price instead of stickers. If there’s a sticker, it should display a discounted price. You can refuse to buy such products and file a complaint.

You shouldn’t make a compromise when it comes to the quantity, quality, and price of a food item. If a product doesn’t display weight, expiry dates, manufacturing details, customer complaint numbers, etc.- then you can assume that it won’t be of the highest quality.

A good indicator of hygiene is FSSAI licensing. FSSAI is the food regulatory authority in India. It has strict rules and regulations in place to protect consumers. You can complain to FSSAI if you find that a vendor is operating a shop without holding a valid license.

Moreover, look for stamps like FPO mark, AGMARK, FSSAI license number on packed food products. If they don’t bear any, make a complaint.