Best‑before dates missing on many FMCG websites, survey finds

Picture this: you’re scrolling through a grocery app, add a pack of biscuits, a ready‑to‑eat meal and maybe a bottle of juice to your cart. You check the price, the size, the ingredient list – everything looks fine. Then you hit a snag. The moment you look for the best‑before date, nothing pops up. No manufacturing date, no “use by” stamp, just a blank space where that crucial piece of information should be.

That isn’t a one‑off glitch. It’s the reality for a sizeable chunk of India’s online shoppers. According to a recent LocalCircles survey that polled almost 20,000 consumers across the country, 39% said they could not locate the best‑before date on most FMCG brand websites or apps they used in the past year. Even more stark, 33% claimed they couldn’t find the date on any of the platforms they shopped on.

Only a lucky 27% reported that every D2C (direct‑to‑consumer) site they visited displayed the date clearly. The rest were left guessing – 14% saw it on most sites, 6% on some, another 6% on just a few. The numbers paint a worrying picture of a data gap that most shoppers didn’t even know existed.

The problem isn’t limited to quick‑commerce marketplaces like BigBasket or Grofers. It also spills over into the brand‑owned digital storefronts of household names. The survey singled out giants such as Amul, Patanjali, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and Nestlé for not showing best‑before or manufacturing dates on their own sites. These are the very companies that have all the production data at their fingertips, yet that information often never makes it to the product page.

Why does this matter? Because saying a product is “good for six months from manufacture” is not the same as telling you how many months are left on the specific pack you’re about to buy. Without the actual manufacturing date, the consumer can’t calculate the remaining shelf life. In many listings the only clue is a vague “use within 24 months of manufacture,” which leaves shoppers with a duration but no anchor point.

Take a look at a few concrete examples from the study. On Amul’s portal, items like T‑Special Rusk and Velvett Chocolate Drink had no best‑before or manufacturing date visible. A similar omission was seen for an infant milk formula. Patanjali’s besan packet mentioned “use within four months of manufacturing” but didn’t reveal the date itself, while a shower gel claimed a 24‑month shelf life with the same missing reference point. Even Unilever’s online listings sometimes only offered generic shelf‑life periods, not the actual expiry date.

Legally, the situation is a bit murky. The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 – amended in 2017 – obligate e‑commerce platforms to display mandatory declarations, including the best‑before or use‑by date, before a purchase is completed. The rules don’t draw a line between marketplace giants and brand‑run D2C sites, meaning the same standards should apply to both.

Adding to the confusion, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) requires that food sold online retain at least 30% of its shelf life or 45 days remaining. However, that rule stops short of mandating the actual date to be shown to the consumer at checkout. It’s a regulatory gap that the LocalCircles report says needs plugging.

Good news? FSSAI has recently signalled that it will start enforcing the online display of best‑before dates more strictly. LocalCircles welcomed the move but urged the agency to work hand‑in‑hand with the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Legal Metrology division, the Central Consumer Protection Authority and other bodies to close the loophole completely.

So, what does this mean for you, the everyday online shopper? In short, stay alert. If a product page only lists a generic shelf‑life (“best before six months from manufacture”) without the actual manufacturing date, you still can’t tell how fresh the pack really is. Until the rules are uniformly enforced, the safest bet is to ask the seller directly, or to prefer platforms that clearly show the date.

The LocalCircles findings make it clear: the information gap is real and fairly widespread across FMCG D2C platforms. Only a little over a quarter of shoppers can rely on seeing the best‑before date every time they shop online. Until transparency becomes the norm, a little extra vigilance can go a long way in keeping your pantry—and your peace of mind—fresh.