The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has permitted hotels to serve drinking water in paper-sealed glass bottles to their in-house guests.
“Hoteliers have made several representations in this regard, wherein they termed such a move as their commitment to environment sustainability,” added the regulator.
FSSAI has, in this regard, passed an order saying that it had taken cognisance of the matter and decided to allow serving drinking water in paper-sealed reusable glass bottles within the hotel premises.
At present, hotels across the country serve packed drinking water in plastic bottles.
Parveen Jargar, joint director, regulatory compliance, FSSAI, said,“The overall consumption of plastic bottles used in hotels results in considerable plastic wastage. Taking cognisance of this, it has been decided to allow to serve drinking water in paper-sealed reusable glass bottles for captive use within the hotel premises.”
However, the order mandated that hotels will be required to follow the sanitation and hygienic conditions as per the regulations for drinking water and set up in-house drinking water bottling systems on their premises.
The hotels also need to ensure that water served in such bottles follow the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) specification IS 10500:2012 (for drinking water).
And the paper-sealed glass water bottles will not be for sale and served free of cost to in house guests, while their labels will prominently specify Not for Sale, along with the name and address of the hotel.
The plastic waste problem is also a serious concern for frequent Indian travellers who stay in hotels.
“Clearly, plastic waste management is no longer a buzzword, because the country’s top hotels are keen to lead the way forward with eco-friendly and sustainable solutions,” stated an industry insider, on the condition of anonymity.
