Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has appointed a new member on its scientific committee and 13 members on seven scientific panels for the remaining period of the committee and the panels. The names of the members were approved at the FSSAI meeting held on January 16, 2015. The new members have been appointed to fill in vacancies caused by non-availability or consistent non-participation of members earlier appointed on the committee and the panels.
Mangalore based Dr I Karnusagar, senior international consultant, products, trade and marketing service, FAO, has been appointed member on the scientific committee. Dr Vinay Kumar Gupta, head, dairy technology division, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal and Dr Kaushik Banerjee, Principal Scientist, NRL, National Research Centre-Grapes, have been appointed on the scientific panel on methods of sampling and analysis.
Dr A K Barooah, Chief Scientist at Head-Analytical Services, Tea Research Association, Jorhat, Dr Vasanthi Siriguri, Scientist D, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad and Dr S S Thorat, head, Department of Food Science & Technology, Mahatma Phule Agriculture University, Rahuri, Maharashtra, have been appointed on the scientific panel on contaminants in the food chain.
Dr S K Panda, senior scientist, CIFT, Cochin, has been appointed on the panel on fish and fisheries products, Dr J S Sandhu, retired scientist, CFTRI, Chandigarh, has been appointed on biological hazards panel, Dr V V Kulkarni, Director, National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad, has been appointed on pesticides and antibiotic residues panel while Prof. Rekha Singhal, Food Engineering and Technology Department, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, is appointed on food additives, flavourings, processing aids and materials in contact with food panel.
Dr Sudip Ghosh, Scientist D, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, Hyderabad, Dr N K Singh, National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, IARI, Delhi and Prof. Sangeeta Bansal, Centre for International Trade and Development, JNU, New Delhi, have been appointed on genetically modified organisms and food panel.