125 food testing labs on cards

PUNE: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed to set up 125 food testing laboratories in the country. The authority has also proposed to form guidelines to keep a check on flavoured drinking water, said V N Gaur, chief executive officer of FSSAI. The proposals have been submitted to the Union government for approval.
Gaur was speaking at the two-day 21st Indian Convention of Food Scientists and Technologists organised on the theme 'Innovations in food science and technology to fuel the growth of the Indian food industry'. Swapan Kumar Datta, deputy director general, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, New Delhi, Vasudha Kamath, vice-chancellor, SNDT University, Mumbai, and G Venkateswara Rao, acting director Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, were present for the convention that started on Friday.
He said, "The proposed labs are meant to undertake tests to check whether the adulteration is chemical, physical or microbiological. Physical category means substandard particles mixed in a product. The 125 primary labs will join the existing 72 labs in the country. Apart from these, there are four central food labs, working as referral labs to the primary labs, providing information about various research projects, their findings and usefulness of technology in the food industry."
Another emerging market is flavoured drinking water, for which there are no guidelines so far, he said. The authority has urged the Union government to initiate a procedure to form guidelines for flavoured drinking water, as there is definition of drinking water, bottled and packaged water, Gaur added.
The FSSAI has also appealed to the government to upgrade and modernise existing food testing labs and open them to packaged food manufacturers, consumers and researchers. The old machinery and lack of funds are limiting the functioning of the labs and their scope, he added.
When asked about the recently released national milk sample survey, in which 70% milk samples were found adulterated, Gaur said, "Out of them, 14% samples had detergent in them, which is a serious health concern. Adding skimmed milk powder or water does not pose any threat, but chemicals could cause serious health problems. The mechanism to check all types of adulteration is in place, but there are issues regarding effective implementation."
S M Naikare, president, Association of Food Scientist and Technologists, Pune chapter, told TOI, "The government has not emphasised processing of ethnic food items that are in huge demand. The copying of western food products has a limited response as food habits of Indians are different. The proposed labs would help keep a check on adulteration and would empower consumers."