Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25 virtually inaugurated the newly set-up Microbiology Laboratory and 17 Food Safety on Wheels (FSWs) at the State Public Health Laboratory, Assam at Bamunimaidam in Guwahati under the Commissionerate of Food Safety, Department of Health Family Welfare.
The event was attended by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilisers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Prof S.P Baghal, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Tribal Affairs from Rajkot.
The event at the State Public Health Laboratory, Assam, was held in the presence of Assam Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Keshab Mahanta, Member of Parliament, Guwahati Queen Oja and other distinguished dignitaries.
The highly sophisticated microbiology Laboratory has been set up at a cost of Rs 4.64 crore by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India with financial assistance from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between FSSAI and the State of Assam.
The Laboratory set up at the State Public Health Laboratory, Assam, the only FSSAI-notified and NABL accredited Laboratory in the State, will enable the analysis of samples of articles of food and detect and identify harmful pathogens, ensuring compliance with food safety standards and prevention of food-borne illnesses.
The laboratory will be able to analyse microbiological parameters as laid in Food Safety regulations in different articles of food including milk and milk products, water, food grains, fruits & vegetables etc. This Laboratory will go a long way in ensuring safe and wholesome food to all citizens in the State as envisaged by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The 17 numbers of FSWs newly procured from funds received from FSSAI at a cost of Rs 8.46 crore under the same above MoU will enable the Commissionerate to carry out activities of surveillance, awareness and training on Food Safety across the State.
The FSWs will perform an analysis of different articles on food, including milk and milk products, water, fruits & beverages, edible oils, etc. These mobile food testing laboratories will enhance the capability of the Commissionerate to carry forward the message of safe and wholesome food to all citizens of Assam, even in remote areas of the State.
(with inputs from ANI)
