new delhi new instructions from the food safety and standards authority of india fssai on labelling of imported food and alcohol have sent city hoteliers and restaurateurs into a tizzy consignments of black olives a few brands of olive oil a popular swiss chocolate brand a number of glutenfree products nachos southeast asian sauces and noodles certain wines beer and scotch whisky have either been rejected or stalled at various ports causing massive financial loss if this continues delhis dreams of becoming the gourmet capital may soon end say chefs an fssai notification in july on alcoholic beverages for instance mandates that except for single ingredient products all products are required to display the list of ingredients on their label they also have to mention the manufacturing and expiry date for each product this is often not the norm in the countries from where alcohol is imported a similar notification was also released for canola or rapeseed oil restaurant owners claim that because of such guidelines chefs have to opt for inferiorquality ingredients available locally while their imports continue to rot at ports between january 2014 and june 2014 as many as 165 imported consignments were rejected at the delhi airport mainly due to non rectifiable labelling defects and non submission of product approval certificate in total 981 consignments were rejected in ports across the country with a majority due to labelling issues according to fssais data fssai officials however refused to comment we are going by our notifications all details are on the website said b g pandian assistant director imports at fssai meanwhile gourmet outlets say import delays are bad news ahead of the festive season the worst is the restriction on swiss chocolate as it is in huge demand during the festive season glutenfree products are also becoming popular in india because of health reasons but now most of them have been stopped for olive oil and sauces we usually suggest alternatives said an employee of natures basket a grocery store that stocks exotic ingredients and foods citing the guidelines he said that the manufacturing date expiry date and maximum retail price of a product should be mentioned by the manufacturer on its label a label pasted by the importer wont help he added at the ina market many of these products were unavailable when they are not being imported what can we do we can only offer alternatives said gulshan luthra a shopkeeper a chef at a leading eatery serving european cuisine revealed that his import agents for artisan cheese and chocolates had stopped supply another chef said that a popular brand of dips and sauces had also stopped operation because of the guidelines companies are expected to reveal trade secrets in the name of safety they would rather shut shop than invest in lawyers to fight their cases or print indiaspecific labels ironically most of them are reputed suppliers meeting some of most stringent guidelines across the world he added these regulations will impact restaurants