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NABL accreditation is a means of determining the proficiency of laboratories
A constituent board of Quality Council of India (QCI) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 has recently granted accreditation to Food testing laboratories of Jammu and Srinagar under chemical testing for quality assurance.
Since January 2021, food samples collected or any inspection being carried out by the Food Safety Officers in Kashmir valley were consulted with the Food Testing Laboratory Jammu for analysis. The NABL accreditation further enhances the credibility of said labs.
The Commissioner of Food & Drug Administration, Shakeel ur Rehman, in a statement released to the media, said that in order to get NABL accreditation for these laboratories, the Department had worked with utmost determination, mobilizing all the resources & manpower.
A team of in-house specialists was formed by the Commissioner of Food & Drug Administration, in agreement with the Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department. The progress in this regard was reviewed on a weekly basis by the FDA Commissioner and every month by the Health and Medical Education FC.
Adding further, Rehman stated that the Food Laboratory in Jammu was NABL accredited in the month of March 2021 while the Food Laboratory in Srinagar has been granted NABL accreditation just a few days ago, in May 22, 2021.
NABL accreditation is a means of determining the proficiency of laboratories. The fact that it gives laboratories a standard to adhere to is vital as they can learn from each other’s trial and error process and come to a common understanding of what a food safety ecosystem must be like.
Ashwin Bhadri, CEO of Equinox Labs, says, “The NABL accreditation certification is important as it provides an accurate assessment of the quality and technical competence of labs. It gives consumers assurity that testing of food has been conformed to the prescribed norms and regulations mandated under the provisions of Food Safety & Standards Act 2006, and that it is safe to consume.”
“A fine example set by these labs and all the people involved. Just goes to show that with proper logistics and financial support, food testing laboratories can be upgraded in terms of infrastructure, manpower and equipment. Labs across the country must take note”, he adds.