As Bombay high court urges to upgrade food testing labs, FSSAI declares to invest Rs482 crore

In a wakeup call given by Bombay High court, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have decided to invest Rs 482 crore to strengthen food testing infrastructure, including upgrading laboratories.
The decision came after the Bombay high court observed that there was urgent need to upgrade food testing laboratories. FSSAI currently owns and operates two central laboratories in Kolkata and Ghaziabad and state governments run 82 laboratories. The money will be used to upgrade and modernize these laboratories.
The court’s observation came during the hearings of a case related to Nestle India Ltd’s Maggi noodles that was banned by FSSAI on 5 June 2015 on allegations that Maggi noodles contained monosodium glutamate, and lead in excess of prescribed limits. The Bombay high court, however, overturned the FSSAI order to ban Maggi noodles in August 2015.
“FSSAI has also set up an empowered committee, with representatives from the organization, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, Ministry of Food processing industries, Export Inspection Council, National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and seven state governments and union territories”, FSSAI said in a statement.
Under this scheme, 45 food testing laboratories across the country and 14 Referral Food Testing laboratories will be upgraded to enable them to obtain NABL accreditation. FSSAI will also set up 62 mobile testing labs. At present, there are four mobile food testing labs in Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
“The committee also approved the proposal for strengthening the Referral Food Laboratory at Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI) through provision of modern equipment and facilities to significantly enhance the testing capability of CFTRI for adulteration of honey and pesticide and antibiotic residues in food samples”, FSSAI added.