Uttarakhand Food Lab gets New Hallmark

• 21 Apr 2023

Why in News?

On April 20, 2023, State Food and Drug Analysis Laboratory Commissioner R.S Kathait informed that the Government of India has given NABL (National Accreditation for Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) certificate to Rudrapur-based Food and Drug Analysis Laboratory for oil, fat, spices and pulses after milk products.

Key Points

• Now the test report of these food items from the State Food and Drug Analysis Laboratory at Rudrapur will also be valid internationally. Adulterants will also not be able to challenge the food lab report in court.
• The State Food and Drug Analysis Laboratory in Rudrapur, set up in 2010, received the NABL certificate in 2018 only for testing reports of milk products. Due to this, adulteration in other food items did not stop. The problem of adulteration in oil, spices, fats and pulses is high in the state.
• Nishant Tyagi, in charge of the state food and drug analysis laboratory, said the food lab had received a hallmark for NABL certification in the milk test report. Now the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has also given a NABL certificate for oil, fat, spices and pulses.
• He said that till now the adulterants used to escape despite registering a case by taking advantage of not having an NABL certificate due to failure of food samples, but now the adulterers will not be able to challenge the report of the food lab in the court.
• It is known that the food lab located in Rudrapur tests food samples from all 13 districts of the state. The lab currently can test 3000 food items a year.