New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has deployed 305 mobile food testing laboratories, known as ‘Food Safety on Wheels’, across States and Union Territories in country to strengthen food safety surveillance, testing and public awareness, the government informed Parliament on Friday.
The initiative is part of the Strengthening of Food Testing System in the Country (SoFTeL) scheme, under which FSSAI has also upgraded 47 State Food Testing Laboratories with advanced analytical equipment and established 34 specialised microbiology laboratories to detect chemical, heavy metal and biological contaminants.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which is mandated to set science-based standards for food articles and regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import, said the implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is a shared responsibility between the Centre and the states.
“The SoFTeL scheme in the country including provision of MFTL is an initiative implemented by the FSSAI to upgrade state food laboratories, set up microbiology facilities and deploys mobile food testing vans,” Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
“Under this scheme, 47 State Food Testing Laboratories have been structurally upgraded with advanced analytical equipment and 34 specialised microbiology laboratories have been established to detect chemical, heavy metal and biological contaminants. MFTL or FSW provides the widest outreach for food testing, training and awareness programme, especially in the villages, towns and remote areas. Currently, 305 FSWs are deployed across 35 States/UTs,” he added.
To strengthen food testing infrastructure, FSSAI has notified 259 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-accredited laboratories for the analysis of food samples, along with 24 Referral Food Laboratories for testing appeal samples.
The regulator has also introduced several tools to help detect food adulteration. These include the “Magic Box”, a compact testing kit that enables rapid detection of common adulterants in seven categories of food commodities such as milk, spices, edible oils and grains.
(IANS)
