433 sweet shops warned as Tihar food safety checks tighten
Food safety inspectors have checked nearly 500 sweet shops across Nepal ahead of Tihar, warning most of them over labelling, and are now preparing fines and court cases against shops that still do not comply.
Published November 4, 2026 9:30 am GMT+0545
The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has brought in strict monitoring and new standards for sweet shops for Tihar, effective from Kartik 11. The rules are meant to help shoppers know exactly what they are buying during the festival, when demand for sweets rises sharply.
Under the new rules, shops must show five details clearly: the name of the sweet, its main ingredients, the oil or ghee used to make it, its use-by date, and its price per kilogram. The details must appear on the packing box or on the showcase where customers can see them. Raw materials used in the shop must also be visible in the showcase.
Nationwide, inspectors specially checked 497 sweet shops. They gave direction notices to 433 shops, and 222 of those shops have fully put the labelling in place. The rest are in the process of improving, the department said.
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The 433 shops given notices were spread across all seven provinces. Lumbini had the highest number, at 175, followed by Koshi with 84, Madhes with 56 and Bagmati with 53. Gandaki had 26, Karnali had 24 and Sudurpaschim had 15.
Department Director General Sanjeev Kumar Karn said inspectors from 30 offices are working with local levels, district administration offices and the commerce department. From this week, shops that still do not comply face cases under the food and consumer protection laws and on-the-spot fines. Tests that find inedible colour or spoilt oil can lead to action up to licence cancellation, he said.
The checks follow concerns from last year, when inspections of 53 large sweet shops in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur found reused cooking oil, excessive industrial colour and unhygienic kitchens.
Separately, the department has seized and destroyed non-edible fat being sold cheaply as puja ghee. In wider festival food checks, 1,751 places were inspected and fines of more than Rs 1,076,000 were collected.
Shoppers are advised to check the label for the name, ingredients, oil or ghee, use-by date and price before buying a sweet. If a shop hides those details, customers should report it, so inspectors can take action.
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