FNB News - FSSAI to upgrade food labs; 3 food parks to be operational, says MoFPI

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FSSAI to upgrade food labs; 3 food parks to be operational, says MoFPI

Wednesday, 04 December, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has undertaken the gap analysis of 72 public laboratories, and according to Sanjay Dave, advisor to the country’s apex food regulator and chairperson, Codex Alimentarius Commission, the existing labs are being upgraded using a corpus of Rs 800 crore (which is about 75 per cent of the cost of upgradation of the facilities). Moreover, 33 new facilities will be in place soon, which will take the number of labs across India to 105.

Siraj Hussain, secretary, miistry of food processing industries (MoFPI), stated that over the next six months, three food parks will become operational in Punjab, Kolkata and Bengaluru, in addition to the two in Patanjali and Chittoor, which are already operational. He inaugurated the National Food Safety and Quality Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday. Dave delivered the keynote address at the meet.

The advisor to FSSAI pointed out that with consumers rapidly moving towards safe foods, standards and regulations would have to be made effective. He informed that horizontal standards (such as the standards for additives and contaminants) were likely to be issued by July 2014, and the harmonisation of the Indian standards with those laid down by Codex would be a landmark achievement in the food processing sector.

“Going forward, setting up horizontal standards would smoothen the product approval process,” he said, highlighting the need to disseminate good practices across the value chain (related to procurement, storage, distribution, farm management, etc.) “Multi-stakeholder collaboration will be important to bring about more effective food safety standards and a better regulatory environment in the country,” Dave added.

Hussain urged the industry to collaborate with universities and institutions to promote the skill development of professionals in the food processing sector to equip it adequately to deliver the huge task of understanding and implementing food safety regulations. He stressed upon the need for creating awareness about the evolution of food safety standards and regulations among people and professionals.

“Right now, the organised players in the private sector are most articulate about the implications of new regulations on business development that are being brought about by FSSAI. The larger concern is around product approval process, which to the industry is cumbersome and likely to slow down their progress with new products,” the MoFPI secretary stated.

He added that it was important for organisations in the public sector to start obtaining approvals and comply with the food safety regulations, and hence seek the cooperation of the private sector to do the same. Food processing industries were assured that they would receive all kinds of assistance to get things done.

Hussain added, “MoFPI has been encouraging investments in this sector, incentives for cold chain development and also grant-in-aid for setting up laboratories that are equipped for testing food products as per the new regulations.” Commenting on the post-harvest losses, he pointed out that despite differences in estimates, it was important that both the government and the private sector come together to address the situation and contain losses.

Vivek Bharti, chairman, CII National Taskforce on Food Regulatory Affairs, and executive director, Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd, delivered the theme address at the summit. During his presentation, he acknowledged the roles played by MoFPI and FSSAI.

“While the food processing industry has benefited from the rapid globalisation, which followed the opening up of the Indian economy in the 1990s [when foreign direct investment (FDI) came in, resulting in the ushering in of capital and technology to boost food processing capacities in India], the sector has a long way to go to make a mark as a global player,” he said.

“The partnership between the industry and the government has been instrumental in deliberating on key issues related to food safety and standards and their implications on the growth of the sector, and going forward, the consultative process would help resolve issues and concerns,” Bharti added.

Stating that science should be the bedrock of any food safety standard or regulation, the Pepsico India executive director emphasised on the need for the Indian industry to be globally competitive and assured that the industry is united towards one goal, namely food safety for consumers.

Other speakers at the inaugural session were Mayank Jalan, co-chairman, CII National Committee on Food Processing, and chairman and managing director, Keventer Group; Ravi Mathur, chairman, CII Expert Group on Food Safety and Quality, and chief executive officer, GS1 India.

CII’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence also organised a two-day summit, which concludes on December 4, 2013. The meet was followed by CII’s national food safety awards.