FSSAI sets up panel to check food testing kits
The 8-member committee will assess the reliability of Rapid Analytical Food Testing (RAFT) kits made by several manufacturers
image for illustrative purpose
The recommendations of the newly constituted RAFT committee shall be ratified by the scientific panel on methods of sampling and analysis and approved by the competent authority before adoption/ implementation
New Delhi: In a bid to improve quick food testing, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has constituted a committee of scientists for the scrutiny of Rapid Analytical Food Testing (RAFT) kits, equipment, and methods.
On June 15, 2020, the FSSAI had set up a committee for the same purpose, but not much seems to have come out of it, official sources told Bizz Buzz. Therefore, the food authority recently constituted the new committee.
The new RAFT committee has eight members: Dr Lalitha Ramakrishna Gowda, Chief Scientist (Retd), CFTRI, Mysuru; Dr Ajit Dua, CEO, Punjab Biotechnology Incubator, Mohali; Dr. Anoop A. Krishnan, Assistant Director (Tech), Export Inspection Agency, Kochi; Dr Bhaskar Datta, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar; Dr Deepak Sharma, principal scientist, CSIR – Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh; Dr Kaushik Banerjee, principal scientist, National Referral Laboratory, National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune; Dr Kiran N Bhilegaonkar, principal scientist and Station In-charge, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute Regional Station, Pune; and Dr TG Shrivastav. Professor and Head (Retd), National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Munirka, New Delhi.
The FSSAI framed a procedure for approval of RAFT kits, equipment, and methods for the purpose of testing of food articles. The guidelines mentioning the procedure for approval of rapid kits, equipment, and methods are already in place.
The recommendations of the newly constituted RAFT committee shall be ratified by the scientific panel on methods of sampling and analysis and approved by the competent authority before adoption/implementation.
Globally, there are a large number of commercial manufacturers of kits. Given the potential application of the commercial rapid test kits as screening tools, it is important that the performance of these rapid methods are validated against established reference methods to assess their reliability before adapting a new alternative or rapid method for regulatory use, the sources said.
Validation of the rapid test kits and methods consists in demonstrating the capability to accomplish detection and quantification at the same level of accuracy and sensitivity as the reference method and evaluated by collaborative studies.
