Suppose your parent asks you to get a 1 kg packet of gram flour from the nearby grocer. There are different types of packets available at the shop such as the one shown below. Observe it carefully. How would you determine that the quality of gram flour meets the required standards? Net Quantity : 2

Question

Accepted Answer

Turn the packet over and read the back. Fig. 12.29 labels ten things printed there, and each one answers a different question.

On the label	What it tells you	What to check
FSSAI mark & licence number	The food has been tested by the government and is safe to consume	The most important single check. No FSSAI mark and licence number — do not buy it
Net quantity	How much flour is actually inside, not counting the packet	Your parent asked for 1 kg — read this number, do not judge by the size of the bag
Date of manufacture	When it was packed	Prefer a recent date; gram flour goes rancid with age
Best before date	Until when it stays good	Must be well in the future — never buy an expired packet
MRP	The maximum price the shopkeeper may charge, all taxes included	Do not pay a rupee more; compare MRP per kilo across brands
Ingredients list	What is actually in the packet	Pure besan should say gram (chana dal) and nothing else — watch for cheaper fillers
Nutrition facts panel	Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate per 100 g	Useful for comparing two brands honestly
Allergen declaration	Warns anyone in the family who is allergic	Read it if anyone at home has a food allergy
Batch number	Identifies this particular lot	Needed if you ever have to complain or return the packet
Name & address of the manufacturer	Who is responsible for it	A real, complete address means a real, traceable company

Then check the packet itself: that it is properly sealed and not torn; that there are no insects, lumps or damp patches; and that the colour is an even pale yellow.

Check it yourself: look closely at the packet drawn in Fig. 12.29 — its net quantity reads 2 kg, not 1 kg. So this particular packet is not the one your parent asked for. That is precisely the point of the exercise: the label, not the look of the bag, tells you what you are buying.

Why it happens: you cannot open the packet in the shop, taste the flour or send it to a laboratory. The printed label and the government mark are the only evidence available at the moment of buying — which is why the law makes them compulsory.

NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 12 Fig. 12.29 — In-text Questions