‘Staff shortage delaying accreditation to food labs’

Pressing need: A. Eswaran, general secretary of Food Analysts Association (India), speaking at the association’s national conference in Madurai on Sunday.

Food Analysts want all labs accredited by August 2018

With over 60% vacancies, State/ Public Food Laboratories across India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, are unable to get accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), according to members from Food Analysts Association (India).

Speaking at the association’s national conference on ‘Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006’, A. Eswaran, Public Food Analyst and association general secretary, pressed for an amendment to Section 43 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The section calls for recognition and accreditation of laboratories, research institutions and referral food laboratories.

“We want to make it mandatory for State governments to have all the labs accredited by August 2018. They must also fill up all vacancies within the next six months,” he said, echoing the opinions of other members in Madurai on Sunday.

This yearly NABL review accounted for the presence of manpower, infrastructure and training provided to the employees. However, labs headed by S.M. Bharadwaj, president FAA-I, in Delhi lost their certification in 2013 due to lack of technical workers.

Maharashtra faced a similar plight. Of the 72 labs present in India, only three had got the requisite approval, they said.

Six labs were present in Tamil Nadu – Chennai, Salem, Thanjavur, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore. Two of the labs did not have a ‘Head Analyst’. Members asked the FSSAI to provide instructions to the State government to ensure that technical workers were given stipulated roles.

About ₹800 crore had been allocated for the food processing industry under the Union Budget, 2017. Members asked for priority to be given to civil infrastructure and not just instruments used in labs. “Most of the labs in the State are in a dilapidated condition. Focus should be diverted in order to have world class labs,” Mr. Eswaran said.