Dr Satya Prakash, former director, Central Food Laboratory,
Kolkata talks to Environment Health Bulletin on the status of
labs in India. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) had notified Rules on 5th August 2011 under FSSA Act
2006 to give guidelines to food industry for hygiene and
regulations/ standards for safe and wholesome food for human
consumption. A nationwide project, Food and Drug Capacity
Building Project was designed to improve the quality and safety
of food and drugs by strengthening the regulatory framework and
incorporating components of consumer education with the
assistance of World Bank. The project remained in operation from
2003 to 2008 to improve the capacity of laboratories at central
and state levels along with other regulatory programme. For this
purpose the government of India took nearly Rs.320 crore soft
loans from World Bank. Due to WTO agreement, it was mandatory to
have laboratories accredited from an authority meant for this
purposes for obtaining reliable and re