FSSAI cracks whip on in-house testing labs
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India begins de-notification process;It’s already de-notified an in-house laboratory of ITC at Guntur in AP,and another lab of Nutralytica Research Pvt Ltd in Nashik
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to derecognize in-house testing laboratories of food business operators (FBOs). The decision has been taken on the grounds of conflict of interest, location of such labs within the manufacturing area of FBOs, presence of directors of FBO in the constitution of board of management, and difficulty in regular monitoring and verification of minor details of the in-house laboratory, official sources told Bizz Buzz.
The FSSAI has already initiated the process of de-notification of all such laboratories. Accordingly, it has de-notified the in-house laboratory of ITC at Guntur. Another lab that has been de-notified is Nutralytica Research Pvt Ltd, Nashik.
Similarly, all other remaining in-house testing laboratories of FBOs will be de-notified in due course of time, sources said.
The FSSAI notifies laboratories under section 43(1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, as primary food testing laboratories. “The Food Authority may notify food laboratories and research institutions accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories or any other accreditation agency for the purposes of carrying out analysis of samples by the food analysts under this Act,” says the Act.
The FSSAI shall establish or recognize by notification, one or more referral food laboratories or laboratories to carry out the functions entrusted to the referral food laboratory by this Act or any rules and regulations made there under, the Act says.
The law also empowers the FSSAI to frame regulations specifying the functions of food laboratories and referral food laboratories, the procedure for submission to such laboratories of samples of articles of food for analysis or tests, and the forms of the laboratory’s reports thereon.
As Bizz Buzz reported earlier, the FSSAI is carrying out the process of streamlining testing and regulating such labs. In the last few months, it has suspended laboratories for failing surprise audits and non-compliance of the regulation that the regulatory food samples tested would be uploaded there on https://infolnet.fssai.gov.in, which is the portal of Indian Food Laboratory Network or INFoLNET.
