Hotels to serve drinking water in reusable glass bottles: FSSAI

In January 2019, the Food Safety and Standards Association of India issued a new regulation that talked about banning plastic and newspaper for packaging food items. Now, the latest direction of FSSAI talks about the use of glass bottles in place of plastic bottles at hotels, restaurant and resorts. The notification strictly says that these glass bottles should not be kept for sale outside the hotel premises.

In June 2018, Maharashtra took the first step towards packaged plastic water bottles, as they banned packaged drinking water below 200 ml, among other single-use plastic items. Later, other states joined the league and now the central government plans to ban single-use plastic items including plastic bags, cutlery and even packaging material.

According to the latest notification of FSSAI issued on September 9, hotels have been asked to serve water only in glass bottles, mentioning details of the hotel. For this, hotels will need to set up an in-house drinking water bottling system on its premise. All sanitation and hygienic conditions will need to be adhered to as per standard norms. The notification also stated that these glass bottles should not be kept for sale outside the hotel premises.

The research conducted by FSSAI revealed that packaged plastic bottles in hotels generated enormous plastic waste, which directly affects the eco-system and the surroundings.

The hospitality industry is making small steps towards building a better surroundings where minimal wastage and well-being of the environment is of utmost priority. FSSAI has duly mentioned that these drinking water bottles and packaging standards will have to be adhered to as per the prescribed norms of IS 10500: 2012 and FSS Act 2006 specifications, respectively.